


Angel Wings and Pretty Things

by LibrarianWitch



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:53:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23475763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibrarianWitch/pseuds/LibrarianWitch
Summary: Daryl and Beth have escaped the Governors attack on the prison together. Doing nothing but  surviving in the woods the two make a decision to go looking for their loved ones and try to rebuild the life they once had. Finding no trace of their missing family the two begin to search for a place to bunker down in for the winter but on their search end up getting more than they bargained for.Set immediately after the fall of the prison in Season Four.A tale of surviving and growing together into a duo to be reckoned with.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene
Comments: 7
Kudos: 77





	1. Running

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone and welcome to my story!  
> I'd just like to begin by saying thank you for giving it a chance. The beth/daryl relationship has always been one of my favourites and I figured I'd finally give writing my own fiction about them a go. I don't know how often I'll post but i'll try and be as regular as I can. I do have another work currently on the go which if you're a Harry Potter fan, specifically a Hermione x Tom Riddle fan please go check out!  
> The only other thing I have to say about this story is that there is going to be a mixture of speech and events from the series which I'm sure you'll easily pick up but also a lot of divergence and i'm going to change the original to work with my story.  
> Apart form that I hope you all enjoy!  
> Love LibrarianWitch x

She was unaware of anything around her but the burning in her lungs, the sound of the hoard of walkers behind them and the sight of the faded angel wings in front of her.

Over and over again she told herself, just one more step, just put one foot in front of the other and keep going. No matter how much she wanted to fall on the ground in a heap of exhausted bones and cry her eyes out for all they had lost, the prison, the little children, her family, her father. She kept on moving, putting one foot in front of the other.

They continued running through the dense woods for what felt like an eternity, somehow she had ended up in front this time and it was only when she hadn’t heard the growl of a walker for at least an hour that she finally collapsed on the ground in a small clearing of scrub, Daryl falling right next to her.

Both of their chests were heaving with each breath they took and Beth could already feel her legs weak and shaking from the amount of running they had done. She looked up at the sky as she lay there not caring if a walker came stumbling out of the woods then and there because she was just too exhausted to care.

But all to soon Daryl was getting back on his feet and looking off into the distance, trying to forge a path in his mind about where they could go. Without a word spoken between them Beth reluctantly followed suit, once again trailing behind the silent hunter and with every step moving further away from whoever was left alive of their family.

After another hour of silently walking, Beth’s mind now filled with the thoughts she could no longer tune out about her family, she knew that she had to say something else she was sure they would walk forever.

_“We have to go back.”_ She said, finally finding her voice but at the same time hating how weak it sounded.

At first she wasn’t sure he had heard her as he just continued walking on ignoring her and moving through the underbrush.

_“Daryl, did you hear me? We have to go back, they might.. there might still be someone. We have to find them.”_ She said more louder this time, knowing that he had to hear her pleas.

But again he just continued walking not even turning to look at her.

_“Daryl!”_ She shouted angrily, this time pulling on his vest turning him around to face her.

All of a sudden burning blue eyes met her own and she quickly let go of her grip on him.

_“What da ya want form me girl?”_ He asked in that thick drawl of his, clear annoyance in his face as his eyes narrowed sizing her up.

Anger sparked through her at his accusing glare, as if she was the one bothering him about something unimportant. For days she’d blindly followed him and hadn’t let any weakness out. She’d never once broken down or refused to move even though she felt her world had ended when the governor had drawn back that sword and sliced her fathers head off. Instead she kept up with him and not once did he say anything to her except to tell her to keep going or make a fire or go to sleep. Never once did he comfort her or tell her he was sorry!

_“I want to you stop acting like you don't give a crap about anything! Like nothing we went through matters. Like none of the people we lost meant anything to you. It's bullshit!”_ She screamed her anger over taking her.

_“Is that what you think?”_ He shouted back at her walking up to her like some enraged dog.

_“That's what I know._ ” She shouted back not letting his intimidating stance get to her.

_“You don't know nothing!”_ He shouted swinging his bow around, both of them now beyond caring about drawing walkers nearby each of them to overcome with anger.

_“I know you look at me and you just see another dead girl. I'm not Michonne. I'm not Carol. I'm not Maggie. I've survived and you don't get it 'cause I'm not like you or them. But I made it and you don't get to treat me like crap just because you're afraid.”_ She said her blue eyes boring in to his and not letting him look away.

_“I ain't afraid of nothing.”_ He growled his eyes sparking with rage.

_“I remember. When that little girl came out of the barn after my mom.You were like me. And now God forbid you ever let anybody get too close.”_ She cried thinking back to how he’d fallen to the floor with Carol and then afterwards stormed off in a fit of rage.

_“Too close, huh? You know all about that. You lost two boyfriends, you can't even shed a tear. Your whole family's gone, all you can do is just go out looking for hooch like some dumb college bitch.”_ He said bringing up the other day when she’d been so over come with grief that she wanted any sort of distraction and had decided that then would be the good time for her first drink.

_“Screw you. You don't get it.”_ To her it wasn’t about being reckless and drowning her sorrows it was about experiencing something, anything normal before she was sure to die like everyone else.

_“No, you don't get it!”_ Daryl screamed back, finally letting the emotions he’d been bottling up come spilling out.

_“Everyone we know is dead!”_ He cried finally thinking about all those they’d lost.

_“You don't know that!”_ She cried back, not wanting to here the truth that she knew was probably true.

_“Might as well be, 'cause you ain't never gonna see 'em again. Rick. You ain't never gonna see Maggie again.”_

_“Daryl, just stop”_ Beth pleaded, tears leaking down her cheeks _._

_“No! The Governor rolled right up to our gates. Maybe if I wouldn't have stopped looking. Maybe 'cause I gave up. That's on me.”_ He said pain evident on his face as he spun around not able to look at her anymore.

_“Daryl.”_ She whispered, finally understanding why he’d never said anything to her. Never spoken about it. Because he blamed himself. Her fathers death. He couldn’t comfort her out of fear she’d blame him.

_“No. And your dad. Maybe…maybe I could have done something.”_

Rather than trying to talk any sense in to him that it wasn’t his fault. That it was no one but the governors she simply launched herself at him. Wrapping her skinny arms around his large frame and holding him whilst he sobbed. Finally letting out the emotions that had been killing him on the inside.

After spending who knows how long holding him they finally stepped apart both of them not saying anything more but also knowing that there was nothing else that needed to be said. Finally they’d cleared the air that had been sitting thick between them for the past few days.

They continued on their journey through the woods for another few hours before they happened upon their camp for the night. An old hunting cabin that was overgrown with bush and leaves and probably hadn’t been used in years but was at least still standing and that was good enough for Beth.

Banging on the door of the wooden structure they waited for any noise within. Despite it being highly unlikely that a walker would be inside it was better safe then sorry. After waiting a few moments and hearing nothing they cracked open the wooden door and walked into their home for the night.

The cabin was mostly sparse and clearly hadn’t been used in a long time if the coating of dust was any indication but it was dry and was better then sleeping out in the bush like they’d been doing. The main section of the cabin was open with only an old musty couch that Beth thought she saw something moving in and seated in front of it an old free standing wood fire stove, however it was so rusted she doubted they could use it. Numerous different objects and rubbish littered the ground giving an indication as to who previously owned the place. Also occupying the main area was a small kitchenette with a few wooden cupboards and a rusted sink.

The tap of course had no running water in it but inside one of the cupboards there was two cans of tomatoes, which wasn’t much but it was better then nothing.

Setting them on the counter Beth followed Daryl into the other part of the cabin which featured a small bedroom that held only a double bed with a thin fading mattress and a small bathroom that was empty like the rest of the cabin.

It wasn’t long before Daryl grabbed his bow and told Beth he was going hunting. Knowing that he more than likely needed space after their outburst earlier she didn’t protest about being left on her own so instead went about the usual job of setting up some make shift alarms out of old bits of metal around the trees of their camp. After sorting the alarms she didn’t have much else to do so decided to have more of a poke around the inside of the cabin to see what she could find.

In the bedroom she managed to procure a few pieces of clothing in the small wardrobe, all of which were mens and seemed to be for someone much older. But two shirts seemed like they would be okay for Daryl and one of the jackets looked like it would do well during winter which was only a month or so away.

The bathroom held no great treasures except for a cake of soap and an old toothbrush much to her dismay and the kitchen and living room, if it could be called that, had no secret treasures either.

When Daryl finally returned from his hunt Beth was sitting on the bed, having nothing else to do but wait. She’d managed to find an old book in one of the bedside tables which she’d had a bit of a read of to entertain herself. Of course it had been about hunting though, but at least it had given her something to do other than thinking about how she was going to face Daryl again. She figured at the least Daryl might even enjoy the book if he ever actually did something apart from his usual hunting, sleeping and eating.

_“Got dinner.”_ He called as he strode through the door, plonking his bow onto the bench and pulling out his kill.

_“What ya get?”_ Beth asked looking at the string of dead animals hanging from his waist and attempting a normal conversation.

_“A couple a rabbits, not very big but they’ll do.”_ He replied starting to clean and gut the first one.

_“You could at least do it outside.”_ She said rolling her eyes at the mess he clearly didn’t care he was making.

_“Whats it to you, aint like we staying here longer than a night.”_ Daryl grumbled.

_“Still could at least keep it clean.”_ She huffed going over to the cupboard and pulling out a plate for him to put the meat on to.

_“We got the tined tomatoes I found earlier as well so we can at least have that as a kind of sauce with them.”_ She said trying to find the silver lining in their mediocre dinner.

Daryl just hummed in response before going outside to make a small fire and cook his kill. Normal he would have continue on skinning and cleaning the animals right there in the kitchen and not given a rats ass about what Beth said. But clearly something had changed for him to go outside to do it.

If Beth was honest the rabbit wasn’t that bad and with the tomatoes it almost turned into a decent meal.

They were currently seated on the floor of the living room, neither wanting to sit on the dusty couch that had something unknown living in it’s stuffing, both finishing off their dinner in awkward silence.

Every now and again she could feel Daryl’s penetrating gaze shift towards her and she wondered why he kept looking at her. But she suppose it had always been like that though. From the moment he had come to the farm he’d always been watching her from a far, however for some reason never holding her gaze when she returned it.

_Flashback_

_Beth stood around the large pile of stones with the rest of her family and the new group that had arrived earlier that morning. A few tears trickling down her face as she thought about the sacrifice her neighbour Otis had made for the young boy Carl._

_By now with everything and everyone they had lost she should be used to death. Numb to it. But it still hurt thinking he’d never again see a sunrise, never again get to kiss his wife Patricia or walk amongst the fields of his beloved farm._

_As Beth thought about the life of Otis she could feel someone looking at her, their piercing gaze burning into her face. Looking around at the people surrounding them she could see it was one of the men from the new group. The one who had watched her riding Nelly in the paddock earlier as he rode with the convoy of cars on a large black motorcycle._

_When Rick had come running back with Otis and his injured son and later on when Maggie had saved his wife Lori she knew that the other members of their group would be coming to their home but it was still a shock to see so many new people arriving on their quiet and undisturbed farm._

_However what had transfixed Beth most wasn’t the arrival of the new people it was the intense gaze of the rugged man riding a motorcycle who seemed just as enraptured as she was by him. She only made eye contact for the briefest of moments as she brought Nelly to a stop to watch their arrival, before his gaze flickered away from her and back to the farm house._

_She hadn’t known what to expect of the new group but it was clear they were quite close, almost a mismatched family of sorts._

_However it appeared that the man who’d been watching her didn’t feel as included in the group as the others. She’d watched as he sat waiting on his motorcycle, two thick legs draped either side, chewing on his lip nervously and his gaze flickering around from her family to the farm house, clearly taking it all in and analysing every detail rather than coming and introducing himself like the rest of his group did. Once it was decided they were staying he didn’t stay to talk or set up camp with the others instead choosing to go off on his own without even a word to anyone._

_Beth’s interest in him only grew when she felt the heated gaze on her once again at the service for Otis. Being much closer this time she noticed that his eyes were a piercing blue much like hers but darker and rather than being a window into his mind and emotions like her own were, they instead gave nothing away._

_She could see by the way that he stood back from the group, his stance rigid and his muscular form tense that he was uncomfortable. And who wouldn’t be? Attending a funeral with people you didn’t know for someone you didn’t know. It would make anyone feel awkward._

_She didn’t know what possessed her but she figured it was the way he kept flickering his eyes to her, as if he was trying to work her out just as she was trying to figure him out and so she had offered him a small smile. He seemed surprised when she did it and rather than return it he quickly turned his gaze to the ground as if he wasn’t sure how to respond. He didn’t meet her eyes again for the rest of the service and once it was over he high tailed it out of there as fast as he could._

_Beth figured that most people saw him as just some redneck, intimidating and rough around the edges and someone who didn’t care about anything but himself, she also thought that that was how he liked people to see him. But over the new groups first few days at the farm she could see that it wasn’t true, at least not all of it. As the man, Daryl as she’d discovered was his name, had almost lost his life trying to find the little girl and he was clearly just as devastated as the others when she’d come walking out of their barn. Even if he didn’t let anyone see it._

_After the events on the road and all that had happened with their time at the prison Beth’s family had grown and Daryl had become apart of it just like the others and in that time she had begun to realise that there was much more to the silent and standoffish hunter then she had ever realised._

* * *

Coming out of her memories Beth realised that she had been staring at Daryl for quite some time and he was clearly uncomfortable as his jaw kept twitching slightly.

Looking down at her empty bowl she realised that she needed to break the silence between them.

_“I’m- I’m sorry about earlier, bout running off and yellin at you and about everything I said.”_ She said quietly, hoping he heard her so she didn’t have to repeat herself.

It was almost two minutes before he replied and by then she was sure he was never going to say anything to her.

_“S’alright, I can be a bit of a dick sometimes to.”_ He muttered a small smile twitching at his lips.

Beth looked up to see him again looking at her, the flickering of the small fire they’d made in the rusty stove casting shadows over his face and his finger lightly tracing over his lip. For the first time ever he didn’t look away at her gaze.

Deciding it was safe to continue and that he wouldn’t snap at her or walk away as per his usual she went on.

_“I’m just worried about our family. Maggie. Glen. Rick. Michone. I’m worried none of them got out or if they did they ended up like those people we found on the road the other day.”_ She whispered, willing herself not to cry in front of him again as she remembered the small child’s shoe she’d found amongst the gory remains.

Daryl sighed shifting his body so his legs were sprawled out in front of him his posture less tense but still clearly not keen for the conversation that lay ahead them. Daryl was never one for emotional conversations and Beth suspected the confrontation today in the woods was a one off and he’d go back to his surly self after that. But to her surprise he didn’t get up and walk away instead he continued the quiet conversation.

_“Mmm I know. I.. I am to.”_ He growled softly.

_“Why are you so sure their all dead?”_ Beth gulped, her voice barely above a whisper as if she was afraid to hear his answer. As if he voiced it then it might come true.

_“I jus’ don’t think there’s much hope.”_ He swallowed thickly his gaze now trained out the broken window watching as the sky turned darker.

_“Well we have to try don’t we? I know that there’s not much of a chance that all of them are okay. But we got out so maybe they did. At the least we can try and look for then.”_ She said raw emotion evident in her voice.

At her words Daryl’s gaze turned back to her, his eyes narrowed as if again trying to figure her out like he was all that time ago at the farm however this time not as calculating more curious then anything.

_“We can try.”_ Was all he said before he stood up and grabbed his bow walking to the front door.

_“Get some sleep Beth, I’ll keep watch.”_ He gruntedswinging the door open with an awful creaking sound.

_“You’ll wake me so you can get some sleep?”_ She said taking their bowls and placing them in the sink.

_“Mmmm.”_ He hummed closing the door behind him and setting himself down on the porch.

Sighing and knowing that he most likely wouldn’t wake her at all as he never did she went into the bedroom and laid on the flimsy mattress. Although Daryl hadn’t completely agreed to go looking for their family he had at least promised they could try, and she supposed that would be better then nothing. Rolling over Beth tried with all her might to fall asleep however her mind was to preoccupied with thoughts of her missing family and piercing blue eyes.

* * *

Daryl groaned slightly as he sat down on the porch his back leaning against one of the rotted poles. His body was sore and tired from the amount of running they’d done over the last few days and the lack of sleep he’d had.

But despite his desire to succumb to a full night’s rest he didn’t. He knew that Beth expected to do a full watch herself but he never woke her for a shift. Ever since they’d escaped the prison together he’d had a sense to protect her, to make sure she was always rested and had at least something to eat even if it wasn’t much. It was the only purpose he had out here. To keep her alive. He knew that if he ever told her this she would be furious as she’d always hated it when Maggie treated her like a child. But Daryl couldn’t help it, to him she was this delicate creature that could easily have the light taken out of her and he wanted to protect that. To protect her.

If he was honest with himself he’d always found her slightly spell bounding. Ever since he’d laid eyes on her all those days ago when he’d ridden up that driveway of the Greene property on Merles bike. His attention had been caught as he’d seen her riding along in the field next to him on that damned horse that had later gone and thrown him off down the ravine. She’d looked so carefree on that horse. The sun bouncing off her already golden hair and making it almost shine.

He remembered how she’d almost felt his gaze upon her and had looked up to meet his eyes. Her own a dazzling blue as full and light as the sky. A complete contrast to his own.

He’d looked away in embarrassment at having been caught staring. But over the course of the day, mostly at the unbearable service for Otis she had caught him staring at her again. His eyes always coming back to her as he tried to figure her out. At first when he’d laid eyes upon her he’d thought she was older but when she was only a few feet away at the service he could tell she was at most 18, and possibly not even then. He could also see that she had a strength in her which she no doubt got from riding, a strength which he would later come to see was also within her.

His observations of her had been stopped however when her eyes had once again found his but instead of turning away like almost everyone else did at his burning gaze she’d simply smiled at him. To say it hadn’t shocked him would be an understatement. He’d been so surprised that he hadn’t looked at her again for the remainder of the service and then as soon as it was over he’d fled the crowd of people choosing to spend his time looking for Sophia.

Despite being perplexed by the enigma that was Beth Greene he hadn’t had much to do with her over the course of their time spent on the road and then later at the Prison. Of course he had come to see her as apart of his family but he was always either hunting for food, dispatching walkers or going on runs and helping run the prison from a distance. Whereas she spent time either helping Lori and then later caring for the little ass kicker.

Daryl felt a pang of grief for the small baby but his memories were interrupted by the sound of shuffling footsteps and then a moment later Beth appearing through the door.

He watched as she sat across from him on the porch.

_“Couldn’t sleep.”_ She said looking off into the woods.

Daryl hummed but didn’t say anything more. If he was honest he was even more curious about the girl before him now. Never thinking she’d have the guts to go and confront him like that. To tell him truths he’d be hiding down deep within himself. If he was honest he’d half expected her to give up on their first day and fall into a heap on the floor. But each day she kept going, kept pushing on just as he did. She had a strength in her that he never knew about but was beginning to discover more and more of each day. His thoughts roamed back to when she’d called herself just another dead girl. And he realised that in his mind it was the furthers thing from the truth.

_“I don’t think ya just another dead girl.”_ He whispered not sure why he was breaking the silence.

He watched as she froze slightly at his words before inclining her head to the side as if studying him.

To avoid her quizzical gaze he turned his eyes back to the darkened woods and for some unknown reason kept talking.

_“Ma dad had a place like this. Same old dumpster chair, crapy junk and…”_ He trailed off as he realised something that he might be able to find for her.

_“Daryl?”_ Beth asked confused as he stood up and walked over to the old shed that was sitting under a dead tree. The shed was so old and falling apart that neither had bothered looking in it but Daryl had a fair idea of what he might find inside.

Pulling open the rusted door he grinned as he found a dozen or so jars filled with clear liquid. Grabbing them all he brought them back to where Beth was sitting.

_“Whats that?_ ” She asked looking down at the jars in confusion.

_“Moonshine, if ya wanna have a first drink this heres a proper one.”_ He said passing her one of the jars and hoping she would accept his peace offering.

Eyes wide Beth looked at the jar and back to him to see if he was serious. Knowing that she’d probably never get a better chance than this Beth unscrewed the lid, her eyes watering slightly at the fumes that wafted up. Scrunching up her nose she gulped down a large mouthful the liquid burning the entire way down her throat.

_“That’s the most disgusting thing I ever tasted.”_ She said putting the jar back on the floor in front of her.

_“Thought ya wanted to have a proper drink?”_ Daryl asked wondering why she was turning it down.

_“Mmmm I did…but I realise theres more important things than that.”_ She said smiling at him her big blue eyes staring into his own.

They were both quiet again for a while. Neither speaking just sitting in comfortable silence. Beth taking the odd sip of the Moonshine and each time screwing up her face in disgust.

Watching her sip the moonshine Daryl thought about how he’d belittled her for not shedding a tear for her boyfriends death. But he knew you couldn’t afford to do that these days. And so again he found himself doing something out of character.

_“You want to know what I was before all this?”_ He asked thinking back to the game Zach would do when they were on runs.

Interested and clearly surprised he was talking of his own free will again Beth nodded.

_“I was just drifting around with Merle...Doing whatever he said we were gonna be doing that day. I was nobody. Nothing. Some redneck asshole with an even bigger asshole for a brother.”_

Beth paused for a moment before she frowned slightly.

_“You miss him, don't you?”_ She whispered as if she knew Daryl needed someone to tell him it was okay to feel the pain and loss he felt for his brother.

Daryl went to open his mouth but no words would come out. As if knowing he couldn’t voice his thoughts Beth spoke for him.

_“I miss Maggie. I miss her bossing me around. I miss my big brother Shawn. He was so annoying and overprotective. And my dad…_

_“I thought..I hoped he'd just live the rest of his life in peace, you know? I thought Maggie and Glenn would have a baby. And he'd get to be a grandpa. And we'd have birthdays and holidays and summer picnics. And he'd get really old. And it'd happen, but it'd be quiet. It'd be okay.”_

_“He'd be surrounded by people he loved.”_ She smiled sadly the moon reflecting the glistening in his eyes.

Laughing she replied to her own statement, _“That's how unbelievably stupid I am.”_

_“That's how it was supposed to be.”_ Daryl frowned at her thinking that it wasn’t really stupid at all. It’s how it should have been, how he wished it had been.

_“I wish I could just… change.”_ She sighed her eyes closing as she leant her head back on the pole.

_"You did.”_

_“Not enough. Not like you. It's like you were made for how things are now.”_ She exhaled her blue eyes back on his once more.

_“I'm just used to it, things being ugly.”_ He shrugged, uncomfortable with the thought of being perfect for a world of death.

_“Growing up in a place like this.”_ He said gesturing around to the crap hole of a cabin that reminded him too much of his dads.

_“Well, you got away from it.”_ She said forcefully never dropping his gaze as though she was willing him to believe what she thought.

_“I didn’t.”_ He said depressingly. Here he was at the end of the world still back at a place like this. He’d never escape it.

_“You did.”_ Beth stressed refusing to take no for an answer.

_“Maybe you got to keep on reminding me sometimes.”_ He hummed. 

_“No. You can't depend on anybody for anything, right?”_ She said smiling slightly bringing up his words from before.

_“I'll be gone someday.”_ She hummed as though what she had just said was already true. 

_“Stop.”_ He growled not wanting to think about loosing anyone else.

_“I will.”_ She said just as forcefully as him.

_“You're gonna be the last man standing. You are.”_

_“You're gonna miss me so bad when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon.”_

Her eyes were wide as she said that. Boring into his own as if she’d already seen the end. Seen him standing by himself the dead all around. The thought terrified him.

_“You ain't a happy drunk at all.”_ He smiled flicking his finger at her still mostly full jar of moonshine.

_“Yeah, I'm happy. I'm just not blind.”_ She smirked.

_“You got to stay who you are, not who you were. Places like this, you have to put it away.”_

_“What if you can’t?_ ” He asked, finally voicing a question he’d truly thought about over and over in his mind.

_“You have to. Or it kills you. Here.”_ Beth whispered back pointing to the place where her heart was.

He didn’t reply for a while only watched the girl in front of him. How could she be so sure of herself in a world like this? Always seeming to know the answers and know what was right from wrong.

_“We should go inside._ ” He finally breathed, not knowing what else to say.

_“We should burn it down.”_ She laughed grinning madly as if it was the most normal request in the world.

But somehow Daryl had given into that grin and now found himself following the blonde haired blue eyed girl through the darkened woods,the glow of the burning down cabin dancing on her hair and warming him from behind. He knew they didn’t have a chance in hell at finding their family. But he’d at least try for her.


	2. Going Back

The next morning Beth woke her back stiff and aching from once again sleeping on the ground. She muttered to herself if it had really been such a good idea burning down the cabin when she could have actually slept in a proper bed.

Daryl was a few feet across from her already skinning and cleaning a squirrel.

_“You didn’t wake me for watch.”_ She said stifling a yawn.

_“Mmmm.”_ Was all Daryl responded not even bothering to apologise.

Sighing she moved to sit down opposite him.

_“You need sleep too Daryl, you can’t keep being the one that does everything. I can help to.”_ She said hoping she sounded more confident than she was and not like a child.

Pausing in his cleaning Daryl turned to look at her. The last few day had proved to him that she was capable of surviving, despite his urge to protect her he knew she wasn’t completely incapable.

_“A’right if I agree to start waking you for watches then you agree to my terms about going looking for our people.”_ He said knowing that going to look for them was probably not the wisest ideas but it needed to be done.

Widening her eyes in shock that he had actually relented and was agreeing to go looking for their family Beth nodded quickly waiting to see what he had to say.

Nodding once Daryl resumed his cleaning of the squirrel.

_“We can go back to the prison and have a look but it’s gonna take us at least a day to go back and when we get there we only gonna look for a few days. If I don’t find a good enough trail to follow then we move on. If we don’t find anything from our people then we move on.”_ He said looking up at her as if daring her to challenge him.

_“Why only a few days?”_ She frowned.

_“Cause we already been on the run for four days as it is. It’s gonna be hard enough for me to find a trail after that long especially with all them walkers that were around. Plus..”_ He said gesturing to the air around them with his knife.

_“…It’s getting colder every day, we’re not that far from Winter and by then we need to have a more permanent place to stay. Who knows how long that’s gonna take to find.”_ Daryl said sighing as he thought of the challenge before them.

Realising he was right, that the odds of finding their family were slim to nothing and that they definitely needed to find some place more permanent Beth nodded.

_“And what if you do find a good trail?”_ She asked ever hopeful in his abilities. 

_“Then we’ll follow it until we find them but if it’s more then a week and we still haven’t caught up to them then we stop. As much as I know ya want to we can’t search for them all over the country.”_ Daryl replied more kindly then she expected.

Sighing and knowing that it was as best as she was going to get she stuck out her hand.

_“Okay deal, but you have to promise to wake me for watches from now on. I don’t just want to be a burden on you Daryl.”_ Beth said waiting for him to shake her hand.

Daryl looked at her outstretched hand before him and the fire that seemed to be reignited within those light blue eyes of hers. After a moment he finally grasped her hand in his own trying not to think about how warm and soft it was compared to his own which was tough and scarred from years of living rough and now covered in squirrel guts.

Beth didn’t seem to mind however as she only smiled at him before standing and collecting their merger supply of belongings that they’d taken from the cabin.

* * *

It took them a day and a half to get back to the prison much to Beth’s astonishment. She guessed it was because when they’d been running away from it they’d usually been going in any random direction just to get away from the hoards of walkers, rather than in a straight line directly to it as they were doing now.

They only got stopped once by a small herd which they were easily able to avoid by going in the opposite direction and giving it a wide birth, however the delay did take them a few extra hours out of their way.

Beth saw the smoke from a few miles off before she saw the actual prison itself, the smoke still rising up in a giant white cloud and fading in to the sky. Her years of making camp fires at the farm with Maggie and Shawn and helping burn crops for seeding had taught her that the fire, although still smoking was mostly out so at least the danger of being burned to a crisp had lessened considerably.

They decided that the best approach was to come from afar and get a view from the old train track that ran alongside it as from there they’d be able to see the majority of the prison as well as the front entrance, getting an idea of what was happening and if anyone could still be inside.

To say the prison was destroyed would be an understatement. A small part of Beth was still hoping that the damage wasn’t as extensive and that they’d be able to fix it up and make it habitable again. But it was clear that that would never happen.

One whole side of the prison was completely down with rubble strewn everywhere and walkers roaming throughout it. The main fence that surrounded the field had been demolished by the tank leading to more walkers flooding in and filling up the grassed area. Countless bodies could be seen littering the floor, both walkers and people who had fought and small flames could also be seen throughout the courtyard and smoking rubble.Frowning slightly and wondering where it was coming from Beth also noticed that smoke was even rising from within one part of the prison itself.

_“What are we gonna do?”_ She whispered to Daryl who was crouched down taking in the ruin of their used to be home in as much disbelief as she was.

_“Dunno, but we can’t go this way. We need to get round the back, go in thata’ way and see if anyones inside.”_ Although he didn’t say it, it was clear Daryl thought it was pointless, there was no way anyone would be inside. They’d either fled or been killed trying.

But Beth had promised herself that she wouldn’t stop trying until she was certain there was nothing they could do. So she followed Daryl around through the tree line making sure to stay quiet so no walkers were made aware of their presence.

It was strange going in through the back of the prison as they’d always used the front entrance which led directly to their own block to get in. Whilst Daryl worked to get the metal gate and door open Beth was constantly looking around for any threat of danger her nerves on edge as she prepared herself to enter the unknown of the prison.

Beth couldn’t help but wince as Daryl pulled open the door, the hinges scraping along the paving and creating an awful screeching sound. His muscles were bulging with the movement, and clearly it took a lot of force to get it open but eventually he managed to do so enough for them to slip inside just in time as walkers were starting to approach being attracted from the noise the door had made.

As they crept through the dark passageway, Daryl leading and using his torch as the only source of light and Beth following her knife in hand she noticed how eerily silent it was and how now more than ever it really was a Tomb. Slowly they made there way through the endless maze, Beth forever grateful that Daryl knew where he was going as she often didn’t come down this way.

She didn’t expect to see any walkers throughout the main passageways and she was right much to her relief. But the main problem she knew would be the cellblocks as that was where the majority of people always were and thus would be the most likely of places to find walkers.

The main cell block that her and Daryl had lived in with the rest of their family was cellblock C, which to her annoyance was on the other side of the prison meaning that to get to it they first had to pass both cellblock A and B.

As they neared the first block of cells Beth’s nerves started to rise, not sure if she’d actually be able to cope with seeing the people she had gotten to know over the last few months turned into walkers.

They were only a corner away from Block A’s entrance when Daryl motioned for her to stay whilst he silently crept up to check what was happening.

Feeling her heart beating steadily in her chest she took a breath to calm herself and watched as Daryl reappeared motioning for her to join him.

_“Looks like this one’s empty.”_ He whispered to her, gesturing to the still cell block that had not the slightest bit of movement in it as she came up beside him.

_“Okay, should we still check just to be sure.”_ Beth whispered back, eyes wide with anxiety.

Nodding Daryl readied his position with Beth following suit before he banged on the metal gate with his crossbow both of them waiting with baited breath for any growling to reach their ears. 

Thankfully there seemed to be nothing within the cell and Beth was able to let out a small Prayer of thank you that this part of the prison was for now at least empty.

It didn’t take them long to reach the next cellblock and repeat the same process as before, however to Beth’s horror this one was not empty like the first.

_“There’s a’ least five of em that I could see.”_ Daryl murmured as he leant back against the wall she was positioned behind.

_“What should we do?”_ She asked knowing he was the expert in this department.

_“The gates still on this block like the last one and its closed, I’m gonna draw them to it and then we can kill them through it just like we’d do at the fence.”_ He said looking back around and inclining his head for her to follow.

Gulping and nodding Beth crept behind him as they came to the gate, Daryl banging on the metal once again however this time growls eagerly answered his call.

She’d killed plenty of walkers through the fence of the prison like this but killing people who she once would have know was a totally different experience for her. Beth tried not to think about who the walkers were as her and Daryl plunged their weapons into their skulls but it was hard not to recognise some of their faces and feel a pang of sympathy for them about the unfortunate end that they’d met.

Luckily it didn’t take them long to get rid of the walkers but due to the up close killing she’d managed to become covered in walker blood, only adding to the layer of grime that she wore these days.

Choosing to be more careful with this cellblock as they didn’t know if any other walkers were hidden in it’s depths her and Daryl stayed close as they silently crept through keeping an eye out for any movement.

It turned out there was only two others that they’d missed. Both of which were behind closed bars and which Daryl easily got with his knife before Beth could even blink and soon they found themselves coming up to the last of the cellblocks.

Knowing that this next one, which was their own would be the hardest to deal with if they found anyone within, Beth readied herself as she followed Daryl through the last of the dark passage. Her heart beating faster and her breath coming out in short pants as her nerves rose to new extremes if it was even possible.

To her utter relief though their cellblock, like the first remained empty. However what was immediately clear to them both upon entering was that no one had been back since the governors attack as things were exactly as they had been left when the tank had first rolled through the fence drastically changing their lives.

To Beth she didn’t know if this was a good or a bad thing that no one had been there but them. But for her it was rather painful to walk through the empty cells, to see the belongings of all her family members and not know where they were or if they were even alive. She couldn’t bring herself to go into her Father’s cell just yet, the memory of his death still to fresh in her mind but she knew that she’d have to before they left, at the least to say goodbye.

_“Well at least we know we’re the only ones that have been back.”_ Beth shrugged to Daryl who was looking just as uncomfortable as she felt.

_“Mmmm, makes it harder to know what’s happened though.”_ He grunted as he walked over to their food stores and opened a can of spaghetti before slurping it down.

Her stomach grumbling Beth joined Daryl at the large table that they would often use at meal times with the rest of their group, both of them not talking just eating and listening to the deafening silence of their old home.

_“What are you thinking we should do?”_ She asked taking a bite of her canned peaches as she watched Daryl devour another tin of spaghetti.

_“Seems safe ‘nough for the night, I recon we stay an have a proper rest and then tomorrow we can try look for some tracks.”_ Daryl said standing and moving over to his old cell disappearing inside.

Throwing her can in the bin Beth walked into the cell that had once been her own all the while wondering how she was ever going to sleep a wink without the familiar noises of the others from her block lulling her to sleep.

Looking around at all the possessions she’d gotten from different runs she felt sadness well up within her. It truly had felt like a proper home here and the governor had just gone and destroyed it all. Out of sheer habit she walked over to her accident calendar and changed the blocks to read four days without an accident before she finally slumped back on her bed and listened to the silence.

It wasn’t long though before she grew uncomfortable from the amount of walker blood coating her body and the smell of death and body odour lingering on her clothes. She hadn’t had a shower since they had first left the prison and she was beginning to feel and smell the affects. Knowing that the water system they’d hooked up would still be running and that it would still be warm she decided that a shower was definitely needed.

Sighing in defeat at what she had to do Beth grabbed her towel and reluctantly walked up the stairs to the cell that was Daryls.

She found him sitting on his bed with his head in his hands and Beth couldn’t help but sympathise with how he was feeling. Being here in a place that used to be so full of love and laughter in a world of death and decay was awful. The silence was deafening and she wanted nothing more than it to all be a bad dream.

Not wanting to intrude but knowing she needed his help Beth reluctantly cleared her voice.

_“Daryl?”_ She questioned timidly, hoping he wouldn’t snap at her for watching him.

His head quickly snapped up and his eyes that had momentarily been filled with hurt and pain turned back to their usual hard self.

_“Mmmm?”_ He hummed wondering what she wanted now.

_“I was just wondering, I’m covered in walker blood and I want to get clean but the showers…”_ She trailed off.

_“Yeah c’mon I’ll help clear em.”_ He said gruffly standing up and grabbing his bow as he brushed passed her through the door way.

The showers, apart from being in another part of the prison altogether were also closer to the damaged side of the prison that they’d seen from the outside so Beth figured it wouldn’t be wise to go wandering by herself. Thankfully like most of the prison the walkers hadn’t seemed to have found their way inside as of yet and so the showers too were devoid of life however it did little to ease Beth’s nerves as she had been starting to realise just how alone she felt with no one but the silence and Daryl for company who were almost one in the same.

_“I’ll umm leave ya to it.”_ Daryl said awkwardly his hands in his pockets and his crossbow slung over his back as he turned to leave.

Biting her lip and wondering if this was going to be a mistake Beth called out.

_“Daryl…can you…can you, stay?”_ She whispered, nervously fidgeting with her towel.

Daryl froze before he slowly turned to face her, she could see him visibly gulp at her words.

“ _I just don’t want to be alone down here.”_ She said blushing and looking down at her feet hoping he wouldn’t laugh in her face.

* * *

Daryl froze.

_Had Beth just asked him to stay whilst she took a shower?!_

Clearly thinking he had heard her wrong he slowly turned around to face her watching as she nervously fidgeted with the towel clutched in her blood stained hands.

_“I just don’t want to be alone down here.”_ She said looking down at her feet and biting her lip.

Not knowing if he should but seeing the fear evident in her face Daryl nodded once before turning around to face out the door and give her some privacy.

It took all his will power to keep facing out of the bathroom and not turn around, especially when he heard the sound of her stepping out of her jeans and the spray of the water turning on.

Instantly his mind became filled with dangerous thoughts of a naked and wet Beth Greene, the mocking voice of his brother filling his ears, _So you into little girls now are ya?_

Trying to banish those thoughts as soon as they entered his mind he shook his head.

He couldn’t believe how much of a sick pervert he was being. Beth was at least half his age plus interest and he was pretty sure still underage not that age mattered much these days with no one around to enforce the law. But still it was completely wrong of him on all levels.

And so as he listened to the sound of her humming in the shower he tried to think about anything but what the girl behind him was doing. Luckily for him she didn’t take too long and was only in there for a few moments. But Daryl was sure the universe had it out for him as when she once again said it was fine to turn around, standing before him in nothing but a way to short towel was a dripping wet and flushed Beth Greene.

_“Jesus Christ.”_ He muttered under his breath, quickly averting his eyes so he wasn’t caught staring at her like some old pervert.

_“Sorry I forgot to bring clothes with me.”_ Beth said blushing at the thought of Daryl Dixon seeing her in nothing but a towel.

_“S’alright, ya done?_ ” He asked a little more harshly then he would have liked but needing to go back to his cell where he would be safe and not assaulted by the image of a half naked Beth.

Daryl cursed himself, Beth Greene was not someone who should cause him to become flushed and speechless. Beth Green was not someone who he should be thinking about taking in the shower right then and there. Daryl needed to get back to his cell ASAP so he could lock the image of Beth in a towel away way down deep in his mind and never open it again. And from then on he would go back to seeing her as nothing but Hershels youngest daughter.

_“Yep I’m all good.”_ Beth said bending to pick up her clothes and knife following him out of the showers as if nothing was wrong at all.

Daryl all but ran back to his cell, Beth on his heels trying to keep up with his pace before he disappeared into his cell after saying a hasty goodnight.

Once Daryl had finally calmed down after the events with Beth he tried to will himself to sleep knowing he needed the rest. But all night he laid awake his mind filled with images of what had happened there at the prison. Images of the governor rolling up to their walls in a tank and blowing apart the prison. Images of him swinging the swordback and cutting off Hershels head. Images of the walkers tearing at peoples flesh and flooding in to the place he had come to think of as home. It was only in the early hours of the morning that his tiredness finally over came him and he fell into a restless sleep where in his dreams visions of a blonde haired girl humming to him from within a steamy shower flashed across his mind.

* * *

Daryl groaned as he pulled himself from his bed. He’d only managed to get a few hours sleep last night much to his annoyance as it was possibly the only time in a long while that he would have been able to get a full night’s sleep.

Swearing at his luck he grabbed his bow from beside his bed, never leaving it more than an arms reach away and headed out to get some breakfast. It was still early enough that he didn’t need to wake Beth just yet, but he knew that they’d need to begin their search for their people soon otherwise all hope of finding them would definitely be lost if it wasn’t already.

After eating a few cans out of their stock pile and looking at the maps they had of the surrounding area Daryl made a rough decision of where he figured they’d have the best chance at finding people before going and waking Beth.

He’d decided last night between his few hours of sleep that the only reason he was having those thoughts about her was because he was tired and stressed and hadn’t gotten laid in a really really long time. He’d also made the decision to make sure something like that never happened again because for his own safety he needed to make sure that Beth stayed in that nice little box of being nothing but the farmers daughter that he’d labeled her as in his mind.

Looking down at her sleeping form he couldn’t help but smirk slightly, with her mouth hanging open and her hand balled up in a fist it was almost comical.

Deciding it would do neither of them any good if he continued to watch her sleep he cleared his throat.

_“Beth.”_ He called.

Nothing.

_“Beth, wake up._ ” He called again somewhat louder.

Still nothing.

Huffing and grumbling under his breath about sleeping teenagers he leaned down and lightly shook her shoulder.

_“Beth, c’mon you gotta wake up.”_ He said this time more gruffly.

_“Whasamattar?”_ She asked between a yawn her eyes flickering open.

_“You gotta get up if you wanna go look for anyone.”_ He said walking back through her cell door.

The good thing about Beth that Daryl could admit was that once she was up it didn’t take her long to get with the days activities. Almost a couple minutes later she came striding out of her cell looking energised and ready for whatever was in store for them.

_“Grab somethin ta eat and then we can go.”_ He said gesturing to the few cans he’d set aside for her.

_“Do you have a plan for where we should go?_ ” She asked choosing a tin of fruit salad and spooning it in to her mouth.

_“Mmm come see._ ” He said pointing at the maps he had laid out on one of the tables.

Pointing Daryl showed her where he thought they’d have the best chance.

_“Theres a small creek down here that most of the council know about cause we’d sometimes use it as a base. Anyone who wanted to remain close to water would have gone there and then possibly followed it out so I think thats our best bet for tracks. Our other option is the train line and the road but the problem is there’ll be no trail to follow.”_ Daryl said voicing his concerns.

Nodding and moving slightly closer then what Daryl was comfortable with Beth leaned down and inspected the maps.

_“What about any buildings around here?”_ She asked gesturing to areas off the nearby road.

_“Rick and I checked most of that area out on runs, theres nothing much there at least not decent enough for a longer period of stay but maybe if we find nothing by the creek we can check that out and then if all else fails choose to go by road or train track out of here.”_ Daryl said thinking about their options.

_“Okay sounds good, I’m just going to go put a few things in my bag and then we’ll go.”_ She said walking back to her cell.

After packing their bags with some more of their clothes and stocking up on as much food as they could carry and anything else they thought they might needthey set off down to the creek. Both of them hoping that they’d be able to find some sign of where their family might have gone.


	3. Teach Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!   
> I just want to say a quick thank you for those of you leaving Kudos on my story it means a lot! I hope you're all enjoying it so far. I've been writing quite a lot these past few days and have the next few chapters mostly sorted so I'm hoping to post them every few days or so, however I do have my university exams next week so everyone pray for me as I've not really been studying only writing for this story eeek!   
> The only other thing I'd like to say is if you have any suggestions or ideas or even questions please feel free to ask me and I'll try my best to reply.   
> Other then that happy reading!   
> Love LibrarianWitch

Beth watched intrigued as Daryl once again bent down and lightly brushed his fingers over the ground seeing something that she could not.

It hadn’t taken them long to find the low flowing creek before following it along for the past half an hour.

Every so often in their walking Daryl would pause to look at something, sometimes bending down to get a closer look, other times swinging them off their path in another direction. But always staying within hearing of the creek.

Beth had been trying and failing since they started ‘tracking’ to work out exactly what it was Daryl was seeing and following but to her there was nothing but the never ending wilderness. The same old trees and bushes. The same old muddy leaf littered ground. The same old rocks and fallen logs.

At one point in her time spent trying to look for tracks she’d grinned stupidly to herself thinking that she’d finally started picking it up when she’d spotted a boot print on the ground in front of her. However she’d worked out pretty quickly that it was one of Daryl’s much to her embarrassment.

After another half an hour of Beth carefully watching Daryl her curiosity finally got the better of her and she voiced her confusion. She just hoped this time it wouldn’t kill her like it had the cat.

_“What are you looking for?”_ She quietly asked hoping Daryl wouldn’t just ignore her.

_“Tracks.”_ He grumbled back as if it was obvious.

Rolling her eyes at his blunt response she moved closer.

_“I know but I can’t see anything. What are you actually looking at.”_ She huffed dropping down to her knees next to him

Glancing at her as if wondering why she was suddenly so interested in tracking he pointed to his left.

_“The rock there’s been kicked by something.”_

Beth frowned following the line his dirt covered hand pointed in and after scanning the area in front of her she was able to see a small rock that although looked exactly like the rest had one of its sides covered in dirt and damp green moss. Her eyes widened slightly as she realised that the dirtied part of the rock would have been the side that was stuck in the ground before someone had come along and kicked it from it’s place.

_“Theres also some prints here, faded at least by a couple a days but there if ya know how to look.”_ He said in his usual drawl bringing her attention back to the ground beneath them.

The prints were harder for her to make out but she could faintly see a slight indentation in the muddy ground as she leaned in to get a better look.

After realising that for the past hour Daryl had been following nothing but these minuscule signs Beth became slightly in awe of his abilities. She always knew he was an exceptional hunter, the fact that he was able to keep them feed throughout their horrible time on the road as well as at the prison being an indication of his capabilities. But she’d had no idea just how skilled he was at being able to notice even the subtlest signs of disturbance around him. She said as much to his face as well, praising his skills at tracking which much to her amusement had just made him scoff at her, his ears going slightly red before he stood back up again, clearly finding his skills nothing to be praised for.

As they continued to move through the bush, Beth made sure that she kept an eye out for any of the signs Daryl had pointed out to her. It took her a while but soon she was able to spot the small indication that _someone_ or _something_ had definitely come trampling through the woods before them. A broken tree branch that would have been about head height had it not been snapped off and lying on the ground. Flattened down patches of grass and flowers. The occasional boot print which she made sure this time was not like the ones belonging to Daryl. And even to her astonishment a bullet shell which she’d managed to pluck from between two rocks as it caught her attention glinting in the afternoon sun.

She’d been quite impressed with herself when she found that. And if she was honest she thought even Daryl might have been mildly impressed as well, not that he admitted it. But as she handed it to him trying to keep a smug grin off her face his eyebrows had risen in surprise at her find. It was the most praise she ever got from him. However he of course had to go and one up her by finding the dead walker that the bullet belonged to.

It was just before night fall when Daryl had decided to call it quits on their tracking for the night. The darkness becoming even too much for his superior skills to track whoever it was. They set up camp just a few meters from the creek between two large trees. Luckily it was a warm night, one of the last of the season Beth suspected. But it at least meant that sleeping on the damp ground with only a small fire to keep them warm was not as awful had it been mid winter.

They’d broken into their supply of cans they’d brought with them from the prison for their dinner. Beth choosing a can of peaches, always favouring something sweet and Daryl a can of beans.

They were sitting in relatively comfortable silence across from each other when Beth asked the question that she’d been burning to voice for the better part of the day.

_“Will you teach me how to hunt?”_ She asked making sure her eyes were downcast so Daryl couldn’t see how nervous she really was.

_“Wha’ for?”_ He grumbled after a slight pause.

Spurred on that he hadn’t down right refused her she took a breath.

_“So I can look after myself, actually contribute.”_ She replied more confidently, bringing her eyes up to his so he could see she was serious.

She’d made the decision earlier in the day after she’d realised that she actually did want to learn how to hunt and track. Apart from being useful skills if she ever got separated from Daryl it would also mean that she wouldn’t feel so _useless_. She’d always hated how Maggie had treated her like a child. Never allowing her to learn to defend herself against walkers properly unless it was through the safety of the fence.

Although Beth loved baby Judith and enjoyed spending her time with her she envied those that could go beyond the walls of the prison and didn’t have to be as scared of the dead like she was. She wanted that freedom too and she was hoping that Daryl would be the one to give it to her.

He was analysing her again like he had been the last few days. Trying to work out her motives and why she seemed to be so keen to learn.

Figuring that he wasn't going to speak she kept going. 

_“I’m sick of being helpless. I’ve never learnt how to defend myself, how to survive. I was always babied at the prison by Maggie and Daddy and I’m sick of it. I want to be helpful. I want to not just be another dead girl. I want to prove them wrong. I want to show them that I can do it.”_ She said voicing her previous thoughts.

It seemed that whatever she said however had worked as Daryl simply nodded once before turning back to his dinner.

At his approval Beth let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, grinning that once again she’d managed to convince Daryl to agree to her plan. Maybe he didn’t think of her as completely helpless.

* * *

_“Girl yer never gonna shoot straight if ya don’t angle ya body right.”_ Daryl growled as he stalked over to Beth standing behind her and grasping her hips gently and moving them into a different position so she stood with her feet apart and her hips angled towards her target.

Beth felt the heat rise in her cheeks at his firm grip and the feeling of his breath on her neck as she tried to focus on shooting the tree a few meters in front of them.

They’d spent the majority of the day still following the tracks by the creek, however this time with Daryl instructing Beth on what to look for and her leading. If she was honest it wasn’t too difficult as she knew she only had to follow the creek and she’d be going in the right direction but after Daryl had started questioning her on what she was seeing she began to pay more attention looking for the signs of disturbance as he did.

She was actually better then she thought she’d be, spotting most things just like the day before, with Daryl only pointing out one or two other signs she’d missed every now and again.

After walking for a couple of miles and pausing for a break Daryl had finally relented to teaching her how to use his crossbow. Getting sick of her endless nagging.

He handed it over rather reluctantly though with a wary look in his eyes and only after he’d showed her the correct stance, how to load it and hold it correctly. However seeing someone do it was one thing and actually doing it was another.

Beth was surprised at how heavy it was when she first held it in her arms but she should have guessed that Daryl’s strength and strong physic came from using it every day. She’d blushed when she’d thought that eyeing his rippling arm muscles out of the corner of her eye, quietly admitting to herself that she was glad he preferred shirts without sleeves.

Bringing her attention back to the present and trying to ignore the emptiness she felt when Daryl removed his hands from her hips she focused on her target. Her arms protesting slightly under the weight of the crossbow but not letting it drop.

Inhaling she took a step forward before she pulled the trigger as she breathed out, just as Daryl had instructed her. To her utter amazement the arrow struck the tree.

Grinning madly she turned around.

_“I hit it! I actually hit.”_ She squealed jumping up and down and not caring if she looked like a little girl, just too excited that she’d actually done it.

_“Yeah you're a real Robbin Hood, c’mon keep practicing._ ” Daryl said smirking at her and going to retrieve the arrow.

She’d been slighting annoyed though that she wasn’t able to load it by herself, the tight string being too much for her weak arms. But after trying with all her might to load it by herself Daryl had finally let out a low chuckle and done it for her quietly revealing that it had even taken him a while to be able to do it by himself and that as she built up her arm strength she’d soon be able to do it without his help. Well that's what she hoped anyway. Otherwise she'd be pretty useless with it if every time she had to get Daryl to load it for her. 

Beth spent the rest of their short break practicing, hitting the target another handful of times with the rest shooting off into the bush. Daryl kept on correcting her stance and posture when needed, however not coming up to actually readjust her like he had before which if she was honest disappointed her slightly. They continued on after that, Beth’s arms more sore than she cared to admit. Her mind was again reeling at how strong Daryl truly was.

She’d been leading them confidently along the creek for a while now when it came to an abrupt stop as they emerged onto the bitumen road.

_“What? How could I… did I make a wrong turn?”_ She asked turning around to face Daryl.

_“Naw ya didn’t we’re just at the end._ ” Daryl said cursing under his breath and knowing what it would mean for them.

_“Can we not track them anymore?_ ” She asked disappointedly.

_“Can’t track on bitumen. No prints to follow._ ” He said running his hand through his hair, which she noticed he often did when he was nervous.

_“How do you know they followed the road?_ ” She asked frowning again.

_“Well if it was you, by yourself what would you do?_ ” He questioned. She noticed that this seemed to be the way Daryl taught her things. Rather than just telling her straight up he’d instead ask her a question, get her to really think about it before replying. _What do you see around you? Does anything look out of place?_

Beth thought for a moment. Although the woods offered ample cover and at least provided some shelter the road offered a clear path to follow. And for someone who wasn’t as capable in the woods as Daryl that was the logical route to follow. Especially as it would at least allow someone to see if any walkers were approaching, the flat openness of the road giving them enough time to slip back into the woods unnoticed.

_“The road.”_ She nodded confidently.

_“Mmhmm and that’s what I recon they’ve done to._ ” Was all he said turning to look down the black winding path.

_“What should we do?”_ Beth asked knowing that they were too far from the prison to turn back and try again but what other option did they have.

_“I think we should give up on trying to look for anyone.”_ Daryl said swinging his pack around and pulling out one of the maps he had stashed in there.

_“What!”_ She shouted. It had only been two days since they’d started out and Daryl had promised her a week of looking for their family before giving up.

_“Look I know you wanna find em, I do to but we can’t do anything about these tracks now, sides’ how do we even know that they belong to someone we know. They could jus as well be from one of those assholes that was with the Governor.”_ He said gruffly.

Beth opened her mouth to retort but the more she thought about it she knew he was right. They had no idea where their family had gone. Everyone was scattered in the attack, some fleeing on the bus, others through the woods. And like Daryl said, there was no guarantee that any tracks they found would belong to their family, there’d been too many people at the prison.

Sighing Beth nodded.

_“So if we’re not looking for anyone anymore what are we supposed to do.”_ She said numbly, hoping that this was the right idea and that her family wouldn’t be mad at them for giving up so quickly.

_“Stick to the plan of looking for a place for the winter.”_ Daryl said standing back up and opening up the map he’d gotten out of his bag.

Coming to stand next to him Beth looked at the map in his hands. It wasn’t the most detailed of one but it showed them the general lay out of the area.

_“Well we could always try that small town we talked about before. I know its a long shot about finding anyone but at the least we might be able to find somewhere to stay._ ” Beth said shrugging.

_“Mmm can try but last time Rick an I was there it was pretty picked through.”_ Daryl said thinking back to the spareness of the town.

_“Well what other option do we have.”_ Beth said pointing to the approximate place they were on the map. The town was clearly a lot closer than the prison was and she was right about it being their best chance of finding somewhere to stay.

_“M’kay.”_ Daryl nodded grabbing his stuff and beginning the long walk along the winding road. Beth gave a final look back to the way the prison was before she too started following him.

* * *

It took them another days walk before they finally came to the small town off the highway. And by then Beth could happily say she was utterly sick of walking. They’d not come across anyone on their way to the town which neither of them were surprised about.

However they had stumbled across a large herd of walkers during the middle of a thunder storm which had led to them bunkering down in the trunk of an abandoned car.

To say she had been utterly scared would not have even come close to it. The herd had been chasing them for a good part of the day and in the last hour of daylight the rain had started coming down in an endless downpour soaking them to their bones and causing the road to become slippery beneath their feet. Both of them were wet and freezing cold as they came across the abandoned car on the side of the road, Beth visibly shaking as she climbed hastily into the trunk. Daryl stumbling in after her and quickly using his bandana to tie the trunk shut.

It had been a nightmare spending all night in the car, listening as hundreds of walkers stumbled past, their bodies banging into it causing it to shake and move around whilst their growls mixed in with the sound of the storm outside creating a deadly symphony that drowned out everything else.

The only thing that kept her calm was the presence of Daryl and the sight of his tense form as he held the crossbow up his gaze never leaving the small gap between the trunk that allowed the flashes of lightening to seep through. The only time his gaze shifted was when a particularly loud clap of thunder had banged overhead followed with the thump of a walker falling onto the trunk before it stumbled off again. However the two sounds had caused her to rise from her cramped position in a fright as she let out a small squeak.

She’d been humiliated when she’d done that and couldn’t believe how stupid she’d been. Quickly clamping a hand over her mouth and praying to God she hadn’t alerted the heard to their presence. Luckily with all the noise outside the walkers hadn’t hard her and she’d slowly lowered her hand back down.

She almost jumped again though when she felt something touching her knee but it turned out it was only Daryl coming to rest his large hand there, his eyes finding hers silently, conveying to her that she would be okay. She smiled at him for that. Even if he couldn’t see it. Because it allowed her to know that she wasn’t alone. He was there and he wouldn’t let anything happen to them.

When they emerged from the trunk the next morning in a sweaty and hot mess from the humidity that the storm had left, Beth could gladly stick that night in her list of top ten worst nights ever. Neither of them had gotten any sleep during the storm so both of them we’re feeling the affects that morning however they continued on their journey. Neither wanting to stop again, just wanting to reach a place of relative safety.

Beth just about cried with relief and bent down to kiss the floor like the Pope when she saw the sign that pointed to the towns turn off. But she knew that they still needed to find and clear a house before either of them could rest.

They had both decided without speaking that they needed to find somewhere more discrete. Many of the houses they passed either drew too much attention, where too close together with no clear escape routes had they needed to run or were already over run with walkers.

It was towards the back of the town, which Beth supposed really wasn’t a town at all as it consisted of only three streets with a few houses, a general store and a couple of other small shops. But towards one end on the last street they checked was a house that was able to suit their needs.

There was nothing special about it, just a plain single story wooden house that had a small front yard and a decent size back yard. It’s main purpose for being chosen was that on one side it neighboured the woods and as well as this it also had a large wrap around fence that ensure no walkers would be able to get through.

They’d cleared the house quite easily with only one walker being inside, however the sight had been gruesome as it had been hanging from a rope in the back bedroom. Clearly the owner of the house had tried to opt for the easy way out.

Thankfully Daryl had quickly taken it down and discarded the body outside but Beth knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep in that room. Apart from the stench of death that seemed to fill up the entire space it also reminded her to closely of the time she’d tried to take her own life back at the farm.

Daryl thankfully hadn’t said anything about the way she’d let out a gasp before clutching her wrist and backing out of the room quickly to try and school her rapid breathing, and for that she was grateful.

The inside of the house was mostly clean, with only a bit of dust coating the surfaces and a few odd bits of rubbish. Apart from the walker bedroom as she had dubbed it, there was only one other bedroom that was clearly a spare having found no clothes or personal items within it.

Between the two bedrooms was also a small bathroom which to her delight had a few small treasures that Beth was in desperate need of including an unopened toothbrush, a packet of disposable razors and to her utter relief some tampons. The sight of the tampons had led her to believe that someone other than the walker they had found hanging in the bedroom had lived there, and Beth couldn’t help but wonder where they’d gone.

She’d voiced her puzzlement to Daryl who had just shrugged and asked why it had mattered.

_“S’ probably why he took the easy way out.”_ He’d said as he dragged the body out the front door.

Beth had laid the issue to rest after that, knowing that she’d probably never find out.

Apart from the two bedrooms and bathroom the rest of the house consisted of the main sitting and eating area which had the usual dinning table and chairs as well as two couches, that unlike the one in the cabin they’d burned down didn’t appear to have anything living within them.

After searching through every room, bar the walker room, Beth had managed to find everything of use to them. Although she knew that the main bedroom would offer them a lot more items, neither one of them felt like sifting through it and they both seemed to be doing mostly okay with the clothes and toiletries they had.

The main thing that they needed was food which to their luck she’d found at least another couple of days worth of in one of the back kitchen cupboards.

As Daryl had gone to take care of the walker and set up a few alarms around the house Beth had placed everything on the kitchen bench before realising there was the dilemma of the sleeping arrangements. With the walker bedroom not being an appealing option to either of them that left only the spare room. One of them she supposed could easily sleep on the couch, and she bet that that was what Daryl was already planning in his head, but it wasn’t fair of Beth to do that. If anything he needed the sleep more than she did.

Although she and Daryl often slept only a few feet apart out in the woods, sleeping in a house and in a bed together was a completely different story.

But if Beth was honest she wouldn’t entirely mind if she had to share a bed with him as she’d become increasingly aware of her growing attraction to him over the last few days. Often having to catch herself from staring as his muscles bulged when he used his crossbow or when the hem of his shirt rode up as he stretched. But she knew that if she even suggested sleeping in the same bed he would freeze up like a deer in headlights. Ever since that day in the woods when he’d readjusted her position with the crossbow he hadn’t touched her since, except for in the trunk of the car which was only out of comfort.

So instead she set about gathering as many cushions and rugs as she could and set up two piles on the main living room floor, hoping that he wouldn’t question her decision for the both of them to sleep out there. If she was totally honest anyway she didn’t think she could be more than a few feet away from him these days. Whenever he was out of sight she’d begin to feel panicky her nerves on edge until he reappeared.

* * *

As Daryl reentered the house that would be theirs for however long he paused mid step at seeing the two bunches of rugs and blankets on the floor.

He’d already been planning on sleeping out in the living area, giving Beth the small bedroom that hadn’t been occupied by the hanging walker but it seemed she’d decided against that idea as well.

Ever since that day in the woods when he’d begun teaching her to hunt he’d kept as further distance as possible from her. He’d been disgusted with himself at the way he found himself wanting to hold on to her foreverand never let go as he gently corrected her stance. The feel of her in his arms making his heart beat rapidly in his chest and his breathing pick up. After making sure she was standing correctly he’d quickly let her go, berating himself the entire rest of the day for thinking those things about her.

But if he was honest Daryl was having a harder and harder time ignoring Beth much to his dismay. He would catch himself watching her and admiring her slim build as she tried to make out the tracks in front of her or would find himself fighting to hold back a smile as she grinned at him from across the fire, those big blue eyes sparkling with far too much happiness for this world.

He was glad though that the issue of where they would sleep had been taken care of as no way did he want to think about the possibility of sharing a bed with Beth.

After eating a small meal of rice and some squirrel that Daryl had caught they’d both settled into their seperate piles of blankets for the night. Neither voicing the fact that there was a perfectly good bed down the hall but both of them similarly thinking about how easy it would be to cross the small gap between them and spend the night wrapped in the safety of each others arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just want to say that some of you maybe thinking that their relationship is moving to fast already but for now it's just the initial spark of attraction they feel. Daryl putting it down to being in such close proximity to her and Beth just admiring him from a far.   
> Neither of them are going to act on their feelings for a while as they are still trying t build the initial friendship phase if you could call it that.   
> I just wanted to clear that up for everyone in case you were wondering.


	4. One Step Forward Three Steps Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> Here is another chapter for you all. Not much to say about this one just that I hope you all are enjoying the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it.   
> Love LibrarianWitch x

_“C’mon what’s your favourite colour?_ ” She asked following him in through the kitchen.

_“Why’s it mattar?_ ” Daryl challenged, his crossbow raised as he cleared the different rooms on the first floor.

_“Cause I told you, I wanna know more about ya.”_ Beth said as she trailed after him not really helping to clear the house at all just poking through the objects in the house.

_“Why ‘m not that interestin._ ” He said looking at her strangely.

_“Well you already know almos’ everythin about me._ ” She sighed wishing he didn’t have to fight her every time she tried to ask him something about himself.

_“Mmm but that’s cause ya never shut up.”_ He said smirking at her over his shoulder.

_“Hey!_ ” Beth cried picking up the small ornament on the table next to her and aiming for his head.

Ducking it easily he let out a low chuckle.

_“Am jus stating tha’ facts.”_ He said disappearing into the other room.

Beth rolled her eyes but she knew it was true. She’d never done well with silence, oh don’t get her wrong she enjoyed the peacefulness silence offered, especially as she was beginning to realise, the comfortable silences she shared with Daryl in the woods. But growing up on the farm she’d constantly been surrounded by noise, the bellowing of cattle and horses, the sounds of the tractor or the old pick up ute they had, her and Maggie always getting into fights over stupid things resulting in both of them screaming at the top of their lungs. Even when she was alone Beth would always be humming or singing quietly to herself.

Huffing at him having dodged her question again Beth quickly followed Daryl into the upstairs of the house. It was two days after they’d started staying at the small house down the road when Daryl had come to her with the idea of wanting to check out the other places within the town that him and Rick hadn’t scavenged through. Beth had quickly agreed, finding it rather enjoyable to be allowed to wander through the remains of people’s lives and see how they lived, even if she knew it was slightly wrong.

They were currently clearing out their second house for the day. The first having been a small single story one a few doors down and offering no great treasures except a few unopened water bottles in the kitchen, some tools they might be able to use as weapons from the garage and a couple of more blankets to add to their collection.

However as they’d been going about clearing the house Daryl had somehow been taken down by an overly large walker that had stumbled hungrily out of one of the rooms, quickly throwing itself onto Daryl before he had time to react. Beth had watched horrified as Daryl had fallen to the floor, the walker growling and hissing at him as it tried with all it’s might to latch it’s teeth into him.

Reacting quickly she’dgrabbed the walkers legs and managed to pull it somewhat off of the struggling Daryl just in time as it had nearly been about to take a large bite out of his neck. But Beth’s quick thinking had allowed him to manoeuvre his arm out from beneath the walker, grab his hunting knife and plunge it swiftly into it’s head, black blood oozing out all over him.

After Daryl had angrily thrown the body off him Beth had embarrassingly broken down into heaving sobs, launching herself at a confused and flustered Daryl who just held her elbow awkwardly whilst she clung to him for dear life her tears wetting his shirt as she cried.

The sight of Daryl almost being bitten and killed by the walker had scared her more than she thought it would. And not just over the fright at seeing Daryl almost killed but at the thought that Daryl was almost taken from her. He’d quickly become her everything out in the woods, having nothing or no one to depend on but him and the thought that he’d almost left her alone in this world had terrified her.

As she sobbed into his shirt, trying to get herself under control. She also came to the realisation that despite him possibly being the most important person in the world to her, other then her sister and father, she knew next to nothing about him and so she’d come up with the plan to get to know him as best she could.

For that reason she’d decided that in each house they cleared she would ask him a different question in each room they went into. She was surprised that he’d agreed to it without much of a fight, however she suspected her performance in the first house had scared him so much that he’d not wanted to accidentally set her off again.

_“C’mon Daryl please you promised._ ” She said finding him in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

_“Fine, black._ ” He replied opening up the walk in robe and stepping into the darkness.

_“Black’s not a colour it’s a shade._ ” She pointed out sounding just like her old art teacher as she poked her head in after him.

It was Daryl’s job to clear the house whilst she followed him throughout the rooms and found anything of value to them. Okay technically she didn’t necessarily _need_ to follow him like a lost puppy but her idea of getting to know him better wouldn’t work if she didn’t stick by him and she also enjoyed the light banter that they had developed recently.

_“Girl you asked,I told.”_ He replied gruffly walking back out into the hall, her spending a few minutes sifting through the clothes before following him out her arms now full of winer jackets and jumpers that she hoped would fit her.

_“Daryl!”_ She whined.

_“Fine, blue ya happy Greene.”_ He smirked throwing a back pack from one of the draws at her already over flowing hands.

_“Yes but with all your wandering I’ve still got at least another…five questions to ask.”_ She said thinking back to how many rooms they’d been in.

_“We’re spposed’ to be clearing the house and lookin for shit not playin party games.”_ He said rolling his eyes at her.

_“I know but we can do both._ ” She smirked, not letting him off the hook easily.

_“Fine, wha’s ya next question._ ” He sighed walking back into the kitchen as she put down the pile of clothes and began looking through the kitchen cupboards.

Mostly everything had already been picked through but she was able to find a couple of tins of spaghetti and some stale crackers that whoever had been there before had thankfully overlooked.

She brought back her find out on to the bench with the rest of their stuff only to see Daryl walking through the back door away from her.

_“Whats your favourite food?”_ She called, knowing it was another stupid question but not pushing her luck with getting to personal too soon.

_“Before everythin when ta shit or after._ ” Daryl said walking over to the shed that was out the back and pulling open the door.

_“How bout both._ ” She thought figuring she might as well learn as much as she could if he was offering to share.

Whilst her eyes adjusted to the dark she tried to make out what was around her. However most of what she could seeseemed like it was just a bunch of junk. Old cardboard boxes taking up most of the space, a wall of tools and appliances that needed batteries to work. A couple of cupboards and other old furniture covered in cobwebs and a few other bits and pieces she couldn’t distinguish.

It seemed however that Daryl had found the jackpot this time as after making an ungodly sound rustling around in one of the cupboards on the far side he came back with his arms full of a bunch of different hunting equipment. Amongst his arms she could see a compass, at least three knives, two of which came with their own halters and also a small hand gun and a box of ammo.

_“Wow._ ” She said her eyes wide at what Daryl had managed to find.

_“Mmm at least we’ve got a bit more in the way of weapons now and I recon at least one of these hunting knives would be okay for ya. As long as you don’t stab yerself with it.”_ He said smirking at her as he brought his find back into the house to put with the rest of their stuff.

Scowling Beth followed him. She wasn’t _that_ incompetent. Okay she’d almost taken her finger off the other day when she’d accidentally slipped trying to open a can with Daryl's knife but that was one time!

_“You still haven’t answered my question._ ” She hissed, trying to sound more menacing.

_“Mmmm, before probably pizza and now well whatever we can find to eat._ ” He said sifting through the different knives he’d found in the shed.

_“Come ‘ere and try this.”_ He called to her holding up a rather beautiful looking knife that had a very sharp dark black blade and a long handle made of jarrah wood with an intricate pattern on it. On closer inception she could also see that it had a small picture of a deers head on one end.

Narrowing her eyes she moved to take it form him. _“Are you just given this one to me because it’s girly.”_

He scoffed at her before taking it back.

_“It’s not jus’ about the look Greene, this knife is small and will fit more easily in yer hand than the others. It’s specifically made to be more lighter for woman so they can get more of their weight behind it when they use it._ ” He said swinging it round in his hands in an expert fashion.

_“Which is perfect for a skinny thing like you._ ” He smirked handing it back to her along with the halter that it came with.

Rather than responding she just childishly poked her tongue out at him. Great one Beth she scolded herself as she bent down to fasten the halter on her leg. Daryl was really gonna see you as an adult when you went around poking your tongue out at him like a twelve year old girl she groaned to herself.

* * *

Daryl laid back on his make shift bed, his hands behind his head and one leg resting on the other as he watched Beth sort through everything they had collected from the houses that day. It had been more productive then he’d been expecting with each of them coming away with a few more winter clothes, enough food for at least two weeks as well as the hunting equipment he’d scored from the second house.

He couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at the afternoon he’d spent with Beth. If he was honest with himself it was rather enjoyable, even though he’d never tell her that otherwise he was sure he’d never get a moments rest.

He’d been shocked when she’d broken down after he’d killed the walker in the first house. Not knowing what was wrong with her but thinking it must have been how close he’d come to being walker food. He’d held her awkwardly as she clutched onto his shirt, not knowing what to do but also not wanting to push her away like he would have normally done.

Apparently him doing that had been enough though as she’d soon pulled herself together and returned to her happy go lucky self.

Daryl smirked at her as she’d finished repacking their bags fitting in the extra clothes they’d found, some more tins of food and a water bottle each as well as cramming in the hunting equipment into Daryl’s pack, before she came and sat down across from him on her pile of blankets.

They always had everything ready to go these days in case they had to make a hasty exit, never wasting to be forced to leave anything behind or have to endure starvation or the possibility of freezing to death. It also meant that they always slept in their clothes and shoes. Although it wasn’t exactly comfortable neither of them wanted to risk death because they were to slow to do up their shoe laces. They also never had their weapons far from them either, Daryl’s crossbow never being more than arms reach away from him.

He’d been glad when he’d scavenged the hunting equipment from the second house though. For a while he’d been looking for a weapon to give to Beth knowing that she needed something to defend herself with apart from his knife, even if she barely knew how to do it.

As if reading his thoughts she pulled the small hunting knife from it’s halter, once again griping it tightly and examining it’s blade. It was probably the 99th time she’d done that this afternoon, clearly she liked the small dagger more than she’d first let on.

_“Spose I gotta teach ya how to use tha’ as well.”_ He said coking his eyebrow at her.

Her wide eyes looked up to him, shocked probably that he’d offered to teach her something without her having to beg him.

_“Will you?”_ She said biting her lip and trying to hide her eagerness.

_“Mmm well I better if I wanna save myself from accidentally havin ma finger chopped off.”_ He smirked pushing himself up and grabbing his bow.

Scowling she re-sheathed the knife.

_“That was one time.”_ He heard her mumble under her breath.

_“C’mon Greene ya wanna learn or not._ ” He said flicking his head to the back door.

_“What now?”_

_“What ya got somewhere ya need to be?”_ He said raising an eyebrow at her comically.

* * *

_"Uhhh Daryl I just can’t do it I’m too weak.”_ Beth whined from her position on the grass.

_“Yer not you just have to focus, stop getting so distracted all the time and focus on wha ya doing.”_ Daryl growled.

Beth sighed as she pulled herself from the ground for the billionth time. Her and Daryl had been out in the back garden for the entire afternoon. Him trying to teach her how to use her knife and defend herself and her 9 times out of 10 falling flat on her ass as Daryl overpowered her.

He’d started off showing her the basics of how to correctly hold a knife, the correct stance to use when plunging it into a walker when it wasn’t being killed through a fence and then to her horror once she'd gotten the hang of that he’d also started teaching her how to use it against people.

_“I still don understand why I have to learn to use it against people!”_ She sighed brushing her jeans off and picking her knife back up.

_“I already told ya the real threat won’t come from the walkers it's people.”_ He drawled.

_“Theres still good people out there Daryl.”_

_“Pfttt well I’ve never met em. Now come on we don' got all day get back in the position I showed ya.”_

Rolling her eyes she moved her feet apart and held her knife up. Daryl had instructed her that he would come at her and all she had to do was try and stop him by using her knife, aiming for the places he’d showed her would cause the most damage.

She’d been hesitant at first not wanting to accidentally plunge the blade into one of his vital organs but it soon became clear that she wouldn’t even get close to scratching him with her blade as before she had time to attack he’d managed to get the knife out of her hands and had her falling to the ground.

But rather than give up she’d found herself getting more and more fired up each time he managed to over power her.

Breathing in and trying to focus herself she lunged towards Daryl her knife aimed at his throat this time rather than his heart. However just as she thought she’d finally made a break through and was gonna actually win his arm came up painfully knocking her own skinny wrist aside and causing the knife to go flying out of her hand.

She scowled as she watched her knife scatter across the ground a few feet away turning to face Daryl who stood there with his arms folded and a smug grin on his face. Clearly finding her pain enjoyable.

_“C’mon Greene I told ya, yeh need to focus. Stop playin around and doing the same thing each time, remember the moves I showed ya.”_ He said walking over to her knife and handing it back to her.

_“I can’t you're too strong.”_ She sighed knowing she never had any hope against him.

_“Well then don’t try and over power me, yer quick and small use that to your advantage instead.”_ He said giving her small frame a once over.

Nodding she shook her head. If she was honest she was finding it difficult to concentrate with Daryl this close to her but she knew he was right. If she was ever going to learn how to properly defend herself she needed to pay attention and not keep staring at Daryl’s muscular build the entire time.

This time as she poised herself to attack him she took a moment before lunging in for the kill, thinking about what he’d said to her. He was right, she’d have no hope of getting passed him once he’d disarmed her, he was too strong and could too easily knock her to the ground. But if she was able to trick him and quickly manoeuvre around him she might just be able to get passed his attempt at blocking her.

Knowing what to do and hoping it would work she raised her knife and nodded for Daryl to come at her. As he begun to move towards her she quickly threw out her arm feigning for his right shoulder, but just as his arm came up to block her she quickly pulled back and instead slipped the knife under his arm and held it just below his rib cage where his lung would have been had she plunged it into his skin.

Daryl froze as he felt the knife tip at his side his eyebrows raising up and mimicking her own shocked expression before she broke into a grin.

_“Now whose dead._ ” She laughed pulling her knife back and grinning up at him.

_“See I told ya.”_ He smirked, her smile contagious.

_“Okay let’s go again.”_ She grinned jumping around on the balls of her feet with a sudden bout of energy.

_“Naww that’s enough for today you’ll wear yourself out.”_ He said knowing that if they did much more both of them would be feeling it the next few days.

_“But I need to practice._ ” She said disappointedly.

_“An we will tomorrow but for now that’s enough, side’s this walker blood startin to make me itch._ ” He said gesturing to the front of his shirt that was stained with blood.

Wrinkling up her nose Beth grimaced. _“Mmm you definitely need a shower cause there ain’t no way I’m sleepin in the same room as you, yeh stink.”_

_“Watch it girl otherwise there won’t be no more practicing._ ” He growled smirking slightly at her sass.

_“Go clean up I’ll bring ya some more water from the tank._ ” She said sheathing her knife and walking over to the small rain water tank that they’d been using for their supply of water.

After filling up one of the buckets they’d been using to cart the water into the house she trudged inside to find Daryl. Walking down the hall, being careful not to spill any water she reached up for the handle of the bathroom door swiftly pulling it wide open, not even thinking to knock.

Which in hindsight Beth wished she’d done as the sight that stood before her was that of Daryl’s bare back, big raised pink scars staring back at her. Too many of them to count and some of them so deep and long they stretched from his shoulder and down past the waist of his jeans.

Shocked still at the sight before her Beth had accidentally let go of the bucket, the sound of the water splashing out over the floor causing Daryl to quickly turn around to face her his burning eyes flashing up to meet her’s as she stared back at him not knowing what to say.

_“Daryl I….”_ She stammered.

She knew then as his eyes flickered from shock to pain to anger that whatever friendship, whatever bond they’d been forming was no longer there. She watched as it died in his eyes. She’d never seen Daryl this angry before and she couldn’t help but back away slowly, her boots squelching on the wet carpet as he grabbed hold of the door, slamming it shut so hard that dust fell from the ceiling.

After a minute of wondering what the hell she had just done she numbly bent down and picked up the empty bucket that was laying at her feet. So much for not spilling any water she thought dumbly.


	5. Thank You

Beth yawned as she woke from a restless nights sleep.

Last night after she’d accidentally walked in on Daryl she hadn’t known what to expect from him. She was sure he would come storming out in a fit of rage just like within the woods when she’d stepped to far but instead he’d spent almost two hours in the bathroom before finally coming out and simply laying down and falling asleep on his bed.

She hadn’t known what say to that she’d just sat on her own bed staring at him as he faced away from her.

_How could you bring up a topic like that?_

How could you talk to someone about experiences like that. Especially to someone like Daryl.

She knew now why he never talked about his past. Why he always tensed up when she asked him a question. Why he always tried to avoid answering her at all costs. Beth had just presumed it was because he had a shady past and was ashamed of it, possibly because he’d been on the wrong side of the law. She’d never once thought he’d been abused.

But thinking back on it the signs were there. The way he sometimes flinched at an overly loud noise. The way he’d bonded so much with Carol who had also suffered similar treatment. And also the way he was before they’d all become like family, always being on the defensive and not knowing how to react to any kind of warmth or kindness.

Thinking about the silent hunter Beth looked to where his pile of blankets were and was surprised to find them empty. Looking around she could also see that his crossbow was gone.

It wasn’t unusual for Daryl to go out in the mornings, often doing a sweep of the area, possibly going into the woods to hunt for an hour or so if he felt like it.

So Beth went about her usual morning activities knowing he’d be back soon.

But as time ticked by and the minutes started turning into hours Beth began to worry.

_Surely he wouldn’t have left her. Would he?_ She questioned nervously looking out the window in hopes of seeing him walking up the driveway.

Knowing that there was no way she’d be able to track him, as if Daryl didn’t want to be found he wouldn’t be, Beth had no other alternative but to wait. However waiting patiently had never been one of her strong suits so she decided to continue her defence lessons without him. Going over the moves and techniques he’d showed her and practicing against a tree in the back yard.

It worked to distract her for a while and she felt good that she’d managed to remember most of what he’d shown her the day before. But her mind kept coming back around to the fact that Daryl wasn’t there along side her. Watching her with his steely gaze and taunting her, throwing out sometimes helpful but mostly sarcastic comments.

After she was officially gasping for breath and sweat was dripping down her chest and forehead she called it quits and decided to go back inside. Hoping that as the sky began to darken Daryl would make an appearance.

However as she laid out a few cans for their dinner and sat nervously biting her lip on her bed and throwing glances at the door every couple of seconds Beth grew more and more scared.

_What if she had gone to far and he had left her?_

_Or what if he’d been so mad he’d gotten careless and stumbled into danger? She would never know if something terrible had happened to him._

Her stewing over Daryl’s absence was cut short however with the arrival of said person. When she saw his large frame come through the doorway Beth just about cried in relief, but her happiness at seeing him was quickly diminished by the anger now burning within her.

_“Where the hell have you been!”_ She shouted standing to her feet and crossing her arms.

Daryl only side long glanced at her before he brushed straight passed her and into the kitchen

_“Hey I’m talking to you!_ ” She shouted reaching out her hand and grabbing him much like she had in the forrest.

_“I got nothin to say.”_ Daryl growled still not looking at her.

_“Well too bad because I do! How the hell could you just leave me like that Daryl! I had no idea where you were or what had happened to you. Hell I wouldn’t even have known if you’d gotten yourself killed!”_ She cried her anger causing her cheeks to flush and her chest to heave.

_“M’ fine!”_ He spat grabbing a can and walking away from her again.

Beth growled under her breath as she followed him. She’d had it with his ever constant mood swings. One minute he was joking around with her and actually enjoying himself and the next he wasn’t coming within a foot of her or brushing her affections off.

_“Will you just-uhh!”_ She huffed trying to get in front of him.

_“No I don’ want ya pity!”_ He shouted finally turning around to face her his breathing heavy like hers and his intimidating stance in place.

Beth stopped, because she realised that was what Daryl feared most. Not that she’d actually seen his scars but that she’d _pity_ him for having them.

And she realised in that moment that they were even more alike then she thought.

Because although Beth had never gone through something like that or would most likely never truely understand, she did know what it was like to hate being pitied. When she’d tried to take her life at the farm it hadn’t been her first battle with depression.

When she was younger and in the first year of high school she’d been bullied. Not anything serious but enough that it hadcaused her to become depressed for quite some time. Initially she’d tried to hide how she was feeling from her family, taking to writing down her thoughts in her diary instead.

Of course Maggie being who she was had found it hidden in the depths of her wardrobe whilst snooping through her things and had read it’s contents before worriedly going to their father and her mother.

As soon as they’d found out about what she’d been going through they begun to treat her like a china doll, as though if they weren’t careful with her she would break at any minute. For almost a year they tip toed around her, never telling her anything that might upset her, always giving her worried and concerned looks and above else pitying her for feeling so helpless. Her mother even went as far as to hide any of the sharp knives in the kitchen one time.

That’s when Beth had finally snapped and told her family that she wasn’t broken she just needed support and understanding. Eventually after she had made some proper friends she began to feel okay again and her family finally came around but it had taken a while.

However when the incident at the farm occurred Beth went right back to being treated like a broken object, receiving nothing but the same sort of treatment with those same pitying words and faces from her sister and Carol and Lori and she couldn’t stand it one bit!

So instead Beth closed her eyes and took a breath.

_“I’m not pitying you. I’m pissed off at you!”_ She scowled walking past Daryl, knowing she’d thrown him off balance with her words.

There was a pause before she heard his heavy footsteps coming after her.

_“The fuck are ya pissed about girl!”_ Daryl growled.

_“I already told ya! For leaving me all day without any idea where you’d gone or what had happened to you! I thought you’d left me Daryl. I thought you’d taken off into the woods and were never coming back.”_ Beth cried as she let some of the pain she was feeling out.

_“I woulda never done tha’ to yer._ ” Daryl said more quietly this time.

_“Well how wad I supposed to know? I didn’t know what to think I was waiting around all day going over different scenarios in my head and wondering if anything had happened to you.”_

_“I already said I’m fine.”_ He whispered, some of his anger finally dissipating.

_“I know but you can’t do that to me Daryl, you’re all I have left.”_ She murmured turning around so he couldn’t see the stray tear slipping from her eye.

_“Beth I…”_

_“No Daryl, promise me you won’t do something like that ever again promise me you won’t leave me._ ” She said angrily wiping away the tears that seemed to not be wanting to stop.

Daryl watched her silently before he finally answered.

_“I promise, but only if ye stop feeling sorry for me.”_

Beth nodded once before she went back to her pile of blankets and laid down, too emotionally exhausted to eat now.

Daryl seemed to be feeling the same as he followed not long after, blowing out the few candles they had lit and laying down on his own pile. 

Beth laid there for a while, listening to Daryl’s breathing and knowing he wasn’t asleep either before she decided to break the silence between them.

_“I know you don’t want my pity and I’m not going to give it. You were right in the woods the other day, I don’t know anything. I don’t know what you went through and I might not ever understand but I want you to know that it’s not your fault and if you ever want to talk about it I’m here and willing to listen.”_ She whispered barely audible even to herself but knowing Daryl would hear her.

She waited a while to see if he would respond to what she’d said but after hearing nothing she presumed he never would and so rolled over trying to fall asleep.

However just as she was on the edges of a dream she heard it, a quiet murmur that could almost be mistaken as the sound of him breathing.

_“Thank you.”_

That night Beth fell asleep with just the faintest hint of a smile on her features.

They would be okay.

* * *

The next morning Beth woke this time to find Daryl still sleeping beside her.

She smiled slightly as she looked at his frame. Even in sleep he still managed to look dangerous.

She wasn’t surprised to find herself awake before him today though, knowing that being out all day yesterday doing whatever he was doing and stewing over what had happened probably took a toll on him.

Leaving him to rest she got up and decided to go straight into her training. Although she hadn’t eaten the night before she found she wasn’t hungry yet and instead wanted to feel the burn within her muscles that was starting to become a familiarity to her.

She’d only been practicing for 20 minutes or so when she felt the presence of someone behind her. She didn’t know how long he’d been watching but suspected it had been a while, only choosing to reveal himself by purposely scuffing his foot.

_“Good morning.”_ She smiled flicking a stray piece of hair out of her face as she squinted through the sun at him.

_“Hey.”_ He said gruffly at her.

She smiled more at that, at least he wasn’t flat out ignoring her like she half expected of him.

_“You wanna check my form?”_ She asked turning back around and adjusting her stance as she prepared to attack the tree.

_“Mmm but against a tree aint gonna teach ya much.”_ He said raising his eyebrow at the tree that was covered in dents and scratches.

_“Well my training partner was gone yesterday so I had to make do.”_ She said smirking up at him so he knew she was only teasing.

Even still Daryl had the decency to look ashamed, his cheeks flushing slightly as he avoided her eyes.

_“Mm sorry bout that._ ” He mumbled running his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture.

_“S’alright, just make up for it today, I still wanna learn.”_ She said abandoning her tree and coming up to him.

Daryl nodded as he set his crossbow aside and pulled out his own knife.

They spent the better part of the day sparring, Beth defending against Daryl’s attacks and sometimes attacking back. She hadn’t improved much since he’d first started teaching her, after all it was only two days ago, but she definitely was starting to notice some small changes within herself. Rather than continuously getting blocked she was now able to bluff most of her attacks and get somewhat close to Daryl and was even able to move out of the way of at least a few of his own attacks.

After they’d both had enough and were equally sweaty and sore Daryl had suggested they go hunting in the last of the light to cool off as well as have fresh meat for dinner.

Because as Daryl said,

_“I ain’t no veggie man, ‘m sick of can spaghetti.”_ He’d grumbled pulling on his angel wing vest that he’d abandoned in their knife sparring and slinging his crossbow over his shoulder.

Beth had laughed at that but agreed that some meat would be nice, even if it was only squirrel.

_“Do you think we should take our stuff with?_ ” Beth asked looking over at their two packs they had ready to go.

_“Mmm can’t really hunt with em._ ” Daryl replied counting his bolts.

_“What if somethin happens though and we can’t get back to them?”_ Beth asked biting her lip. Everything they owned was in those packs, except for the clothes they wore and the weapons they had on them at all times.

“ _We’ll be alright, only be gone an hour or so.”_

Beth sighed but stood up reluctantly, she couldn’t figure out why but she had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong or would go wrong.

The feeling only grew the longer they were out in the woods and she had to bite down the urge to ask Daryl to abandon their hunting trip and return to the house. He must have sensed that she was uneasy though when she turned down his offer to use his crossbow so after successfully killing two rabbits they returned back to their cabin.

To Beth’s relief though nothing was a miss when they got back, the last of the light fading over the woods just as they walked through the front door.

As Daryl skinned and cooked the rabbits Beth warmed a can of tomatoes and beans in a pan to have as a makeshift stew with the rabbit.

However even though they were safely back in the cabin she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. 

It was that feeling though that led to her being unable to sleep that night and thus led to her being able to save their lives.

She was listening to the slight shuddering of the house as the wind blew against it when she heard it. At first she thought it was just the wind picking up, growing more aggressive as they headed closer to winter.

But then she heard it again, the sound more clear now and louder than before.

She rose slowly off her bead trying to focus on the sound to see if she was right.

And then there was a sudden lull in the wind and the sound was unmistakable now. Walkers. _A lot of walkers_. And definitely growing louder.

Beth turned to wake up Daryl, slightly shaking his arm, her gaze never leaving the door as she did so. Thankfully he was a light sleeper and became alert almost instantly, rising next to her and listening for the danger she'd heard outside.

He grabbed his crossbow and was at the front door within the space of three seconds, his body tense like her's as she watched him grip the door handle, not knowing what he'd find on the other side. 

She counted every second that he was out of her sight until he returned. But she knew from the way he kept his footsteps light that it wasn’t okay. After closing and locking the door he crept over to her his finger against his lips in a shooshing manner.

_“How many’s out there._ ” She whispered against his ear.

_“A lot, all I could see was a herd coming up the road, they’re only about three houses down and I couldn’t see the end of it.”_ He breathed back.

Beth gulped.

_“What should we do?”_ She questioned knowing they didn’t have long to way up the options.

They could collect their meagre supply of things and make a run for it into the woods whilst they still had time. They chose this house for that reason, to be able to escape easily in a situation like this. But leaving the safety of this house meant they’d have to take their chances again on the road, and with winter around the corner that could easily mean a death sentence. On the other hand they could stay and try and wait out the herd, there was no way they could fight them all but they might be able to wait it out. However in doing so they had no idea if the herd would come barrelling down on the house possibly tearing it down if there was enough them. Or if the walkers didn't manage to get to them they could just as easily trap them within there, neither of them knowing how long it would take for the herd to move on. Yes they had food for now but it would go quickly, and they also needed water which resulted in them having to go into the back end of the garden to get.

Beth listened as the growling got louder. They needed to make a decision and they needed to make it now. 

_“I think we need to get out whilst we can.”_ Daryl whispered pulling her gently in the direction of the back door.

_“What about finding a place for the winter?_ ” Beth asked, voicing her concerns as she pulled on her pack.

_“We find another one, ‘sides I didn’t think this place was gonna be our permanent home anyway, just a breather along the way.”_ Daryl said adjusting his own pack and waiting for her to be ready.

After making sure she had her knife and everything else she needed she nodded at Daryl, taking one last look around their temporary home before they ran through the back door. Daryl leading and her following right on his tail.

Daryl didn’t turn his torch on until they were safely hidden in the woods and even then he kept the beam of light hidden and down low.

However despite the danger it could put them in she wished he had used the torch whilst they were first running into the wilderness, at least then maybe she might have caught sight of the bear trap before it was painfully encased around her ankle as she lay there calling out for Daryl in agony. 


	6. Almost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!   
> I'm sorry this has taken almost a month to upload I was just struggling with how I wanted this next chapter to go but i've got it now and I think I'm back on track with writing this story and my many others I have in the works.   
> I hope you enjoy this chapter and are enjoying the slow burn between this two characters. I'm trying to stick within the original context of the show but also turn it into my own and tweak it to fit how I want this story to go. So let me know how you're finding that and if there is anything you would like me to include or not include as I'm always open to suggestions.   
> Apart from that I hope you're all well.   
> Love LibrarianWitch xx

Daryl’s entire body froze at the ear splitting scream that Beth let out.

Flicking the torchlight around he ran to where she was laying sprawled on the ground the light catching on the metal of the rusted bear trap clamped around her ankle.

His muscles strained as he tried to pull it apart. Beth whimpering and hissing between clenched teeth as she tried not to make any more noise. The walkers were already starting to enter the woods, following the sound of Beth’s scream and he knew they didn’t have long. He had to get it off her.

_“Fuck!_ ” He cursed as he tried to force the trap open once again, the hinges squeaking as it finally started to seperate.

After more grunting he was able to pull it far enough apart so Beth could pull her foot through and escape its clutches. Thankfully her boot had protected her leg from being punctured by the sharp edges of the trap, most likely saving her from more serious injuries but he knew there was almost no way she’d be able to walk on it by herself.

Quickly he swung his crossbow around so rather than being fastened on his back it hung over his chest.

_“Jump on.”_ He growled crouching low so she could climb on his back.

_“Wh-what?”_ Beth asked confused.

_“Get on!_ ” He said more forcefully the sound of the walkers only a couple of meters away now.

_“Are you serious?_ ” She asked, tentatively placing her hands on his back.

_“Yes it’s a serious piggyback now hurry up ‘fore we become walker food!_ ” He hissed wondering why she was so hesitant.

All of a sudden he felt the weight of Beth as she jumped on his back, her legs scrambling as she tried to stay on. Huffing he reached for them and pulled her up as she clasped her arms around his neck and as soon as he was sure she wouldn’t fall to the floor he took off.

To say it was one of the more challenging nights of his life would be an understatement.

Running through the woods with little light but that of the dim torch and with Beth on his back was not easy.

Most of the time he spent avoiding fallen trees or roots or some other object that just about sent them falling to the ground and the other half of the night he spent running from the heard that seemed to be around every tree or bush he turned around.

When he finally managed to loose them he was absolutely exhausted and could no longer hold Beth up. The last few hours before dawn she'd been walking okay by leaning on him for support but he knew both of them couldn’t go much further.

And despite being able to survive fairly well in the woods, the last week spent in the house had made him realise that they really did need a permanent place to stay. He was sick of staying in the woods, always having to keep one eye open and he knew that Beth deserved better too especially with the weather rapidly declining each day.

That’s why when they stumbled into a large field with a tall wooden house in the distance he thought it was too good to be true. Both of them stopped short at the sight just staring and wondering why there was a house in the middle of nowhere.

The maps they had, showed no other town for quite a while so it was strange for a house to be so far out especially as it didn’t appear to be a farm house either. Daryl couldn’t see any fences that would indicate cattle and there was no overgrown crops either.

What they did find however was much stranger and something he hadn’t expected. A small cemetery sat just a couple meters away from the house. Daryl had wanted to walk straight past it, he’d never liked graveyards and death even before the apocalypse. Now he was constantly surrounded by such things and could do without thinking about the people that laid beneath their feet.

Beth however seemed to have other ideas as she stopped him by gently grabbing his hand. The movement halting his steps.

His first instincts was to pull his hand out of her gentle grasp, never one for affection, but then he saw what had made her strop.

_Beloved Father._ Was written on one of the tombstones.

Oh.

Not knowing what to say as he’d never been good with words he gently squeezed her hand back, hoping that it would convey what he couldn’t say.

It seemed though that this was enough for Beth as she wrapped her fingers tighter around his own hand and offered him one of her small smiles, however it failed to mask the small tear slipping out of her eye.

Noticing a small patch of wildflowers growing nearby he plucked a few and placed them on the tombstone.

Not wanting her to dwell on the events of yesterday and with her father Daryl quickly swept Beth into her arms picking her up so one arm held her back and the other went under her legs.

_“Daryl what are you doing!_ ” She squeaked, surprised at his actions.

_“M’ sick of yer slow ass.”_ He smirked down at her, grateful that he’d managed to distract her.

Rolling her eyes Beth just held on to his neck as he walked them up to the house.

He knew they should be more careful but the odds of more than a few walkers being within the house were pretty slim. The real threat came form people but he figured anyone who was still here would have some sort of alarm system set up and if they didn’t they were probably an idiot and thus not much of a threat.

_“Christ girl yer heavier then ya look.”_ He huffed as he placed her on the front porch. Beth just wacking him slightly on the arm in response.

Deciding it best they not clear the house with Beth unable to walk properly, he pushed open the door and knocked on the wooden frame waiting for any noise. After hearing none he spun back around to pick up Beth once again, knowing it would be faster for him to just carry her rather than get her to limp inside.

However the slight awkwardness of carrying her through the front door in a bridal style fashion made him quickly put her down once she was on the other side and had Daryl stepping hastily away.

_“Its so clean.”_ She marvelled looking around at the dimly lit hallway that had not a speck of dust in it and completely oblivious to Daryl’s previous uncomfortableness.

_“Mmm someone’s been tending to it.”_ He said impressed at her observations that even he had been to tired to pick up on, now wishing he’d paid more attention in case whoever it was were still around.

_“Migth still be around.”_ He said more softly looking back over his shoulder and indicating to her to stick close.

Together they crept through the different assortment of rooms, each of them eerily silent however neither of them having a sense of danger or unease at the odd house.

Something that became abundantly clear upon their inspection was that it was a funeral house, at least if the assortment of coffins and neatly dressed corpses were any indication.

Thankfully though this meant that it had a small medical room underneath the main part of the house which offered a decent amount of medical supplies.

_“Looks like somebody ran out of dolls to dress up.”_ Daryl snarked sarcastically at the corpse wearing a tuxedo on the medical bed as he opened one of the metal cabinets and pulled out a bandage.

_“It’s beautiful.”_ Beth replied back, conviction evident in her voice.

_“Whoever did this cared..they remembered that these things were people once before all this, don’t you think thats beautiful?”_

Daryl watched as her forceful blue eyes turned to his, wide with hope and appreciation for whoever did this.

Yes. _Beautiful._

_“C’mon lets get that ankle wrapped._ ” He gurffed breaking the weighted silence by picking her up and setting her on the bench. Ignoring the way her eyes bored into his as he gently removed her boot and pulled up the cuff of her jeans.

After assessing that her ankle was just badly sprained and successfully wrapping it up so that it was more supported he two returned to the main part of the house hoping to find things of use.

_“Dang._ ” Beth twanged as she pulled open cupboard after cupboard in the small kitchen to reveal nothing but more stark clean emptiness.

_“You find anythin?_ ” She called hopping over to where he revealed nothing but cutlery and plates until they both pulled open the last cabinet.

_“Whoa!”_ She breathed out taking in the sight of the cans, jars and bottles of food before them.

_“Mmm this is definitely someones stash, peanut butter and jelly, soda and pigs feet tha’ a white trash brunch right there.”_ He scoffed pulling out a jar of jelly.

_“Well it all looks good to me.”_ Beth replied pulling out a few cans for herself.

However just as he reached to unscrew the lid of his jar Daryl paused.

Beth’s earlier words from a couple days ago ringing in his head.

_There are still good people Daryl._

_“A’righthold up..I recon we just take some of this and leave the rest.”_

_“Why?”_ She asked reluctantly putting down some of the cans she had.

_“Well, whoever this all is might still be here.”_

Beth smiled at him.

_“I knew it.”_

_“Knew what.”_ He murmured turning away from her uncomfortable gaze.

_“It’s like I said.. theres still good people.”_

* * *

After having a lunch of the small amount of food they had left in their packs alongside a couple of jars from the funeral home supply they each set about going about their business.

Daryl had left Beth to her own devices in the house whilst he’d gone outside to set up their alarm system. Just as he climbed the steps of the porch to head back inside, the last of the sunlight dipping below the horizon he was stopped by the sound of a piano and Beth’s soft voice meeting his ears.

_“Pine for summer.”_

_“Then we'll buy a beer to shotgun.”_

Creeping silently inside Daryl was glad to find Beth had her back too him as it meant he could just watch her sing from his position leaning against the doorframe without her penetrating gaze on him. 

_“We'll lay on our lawn._

_“And we'll be good…”_

After she finished her last note he cleared his throat.

Much to his amusement she spun around in fright her hand swiping the keys slightly as she did.

“ _House is all nailed up tight.”_ He murmured walking into the room and placing his crossbow down, aware her eyes were following his every move.

Wanting to ease some of the silence in the room he went over to the open coffin and jumped up into it.

_“What are you doing?_ ” She asked raising an eyebrow at him.

_“This is the comfiest bed I had in years.”_ He spoke truthfully laying back against the white cushion.

_“Really?”_ She asked skeptically.

Nodding he watched as her eyes downcast to the wooden floor. The silence brining with it thoughts that he’d been trying to tune out for the past week.

God she really was beautiful. Especially with the many candles she had lit casing flickering shadows across her. But he knew it wasn’t right for him to be thinking those thoughts, that he couldn’t be thinking things like that else it would lead him down a path he was sure to regret so instead he broke the silence.

_“Why don you go head an play some more..keep singing.”_ He murmured out bringing his arm behind his head.

Her eyes snapped quickly back to his, wide with curiosity.

_“Thought my singing annoyed you?”_ She quipped back.

In truth she’d never annoyed him, even back at the prison. He just hadn’t seen the point of singing in a world full of death but she was starting to make him see now. And he couldn’t help but admit her voice was probably the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

Not that he’d ever tell her that.

_“Well there aint no jukeboxes.”_ He grumbled, leaning back and breaking her intense gaze.

* * *

_"Those pigs feet are mine.”_ He called following her through to the kitchen after about an hour of listening to her play that had only been interrupted twice. First by the sound of their alarms rattling which turned out to be just some mangy dog that he was sure Beth was hoping would return so she could adopt it. And second by the sound of Beth’s stomach rumbling, which is when they’d decided to have dinner.

Wrinkling up her nose Beth handed him the jar of pigs feet along with a bottle of soda and some peanut butter whilst she opted for beans and soda instead.

_“I’m gonna write a note to say thank you.”_ She said after a while of comfortable silence and eating.

_“Why?”_ He questioned spooning another mouthful of peanut butter into his mouth.

_“For when they come back..if they come back. Even if they don’t I want to say thank you.”_ She trailed off.

There it was again. That hope. But it seemed with each passing day that hope was slowly starting to seep its way into Daryl too.

_“Maybe you don have to leave that.”_ He murmured watching her lift her head from her neatly penned note.

_“Maybe we stick around here for a while..and when they come back we’ll just make it work. They may be nuts but..it’ll be alright.”_

He couldn’t help but feel a flicker of something when she offered him a wide smile, the knowledge that he had made her happy.

_“So you do think there are still good people. What changed your mind?_ ” She asked happily and setting her note aside.

Daryl just shrugged in response, humming under his breath and looking away.

_“Dont mmmm.. what changed your mind?”_ She asked more softer, her wide blue eyes watching him intently.

This time when she asked though Daryl met her gaze. Because he wanted to tell her that it was her who had changed his mind. Her who had reignited the fire and hope within him. Her who was making him see the good in the world. Her who was changing _him_.

But Daryl had never been good with words. And so he just stared at her, taking her in as the candles danced flickering patterns across her skin. As her blue eyes shone with happiness that was directed at him. As her messy hair framed her face and shone in the flickering glow of the candles.

And as her smile started to falter he knew that she understood everything he was trying to convey without words.

_“Oh.”_ She breathed.

He was sure that with that one word time stopped. Because ever so slightly Beth started leaning forward and it was as though he was a moth to a flame as he felt himself matching her movements until each of them were only a breath away from one another, there lips almost touching. His breath faltered as he watched Beth’s eyes flutter shut and he was sure that this had to be a dream, that the nearby trees had uprooted themselves and started walking away and that the sea was rolling backwards as there was no way that he was about to kiss Beth Greene.

However just like normal the dream was over too soon and both of them were snapped back to reality and quickly pulled away from one another with the sound of their alarms once again ringing.

_“Right I’m gonna give that dog one more chance.”_ He growled pulling out one of the pigs feet and standing up, not sure if he was grateful for the dogs interruption or if he was going to kill it.

Daryl was sure though that if it hadn’t been for what had almost happened between him and Beth still playing on his mind he would have paid more attention to the low growling on the other side of the front door. But instead he swung it open and rather than being faced with the mangy grey dog he came face to face with the snapping and snarling mouths of walkers as they tried to push their way closer to him, their growls filling his ears as he frantically called to Beth to run.


	7. Something New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone.   
> I hope you've all been well. I'm sorry this has taken so long to update, I actually had this chapter written for a while but normally I don't like to post one until I've written at least the next one or two just so I can make sure things will flow properly.   
> But nevertheless here it is and I hope you enjoy because finally we can begin getting to all the fluff and romance between these two and I'm just a tad excited!   
> Remember if there is anything you'd like to see included in this story please don't hesitate to request and I'll try my very best, or even if you have some suggestions or questions.   
> Love LibrarianWitch xx

Beth jumped as the noise of the cans startled her.

She watched as a slightly flushed looking Daryl pulled away from her before quickly standing, a pigs foot in his hand and mumbling something about the dog.

The heavy tension that was in the air from their almost kiss had been effectively sucked out of the room and instead Beth was left feeling confused.

She didn’t know what this meant for them now.

Of course she’d been aware of her growing attraction to Daryl since they’d been together, however she’d assumed it had been entirely one sided. After all how could Daryl view her as anything other than a stupid little girl who couldn’t do anything by herself.

But then as they’d been sitting eating their unusual dinner of jelly and soda and she’d asked him what had changed his mind about his views on the world and those in it she had seen it.

No she’d _felt_ it. She’d felt it in the way his burning cornflower blue eyes held hers and conveyed to her everything he couldn’t voice.

It was her.

And it was as though she’d been hit with a sledgehammer. All her feelings and attraction towards this man sitting in front of her came rushing out and she found herself being drawn to him like a magnet.

But what had been most surprising was that he had stared to lean towards her as well, just as equally hypnotised.

And then—

_“BETH! BETH RUN!”_

Standing up Beth’s thoughts on the previous moments between them were quickly replaced by Daryl’s frantic shouts. Quickly she ran as fast as she could into the hallway, Daryl’s crossbow in hand, trying to see what was wrong.

Her eyes widened when she saw a struggling Daryl leaning back against the door as a herd of walkers tried to push their way in. Their rotting hands grappling and their snarling growls drowning out Daryls calls for her to run.

Hurriedly she threw Daryls crossbow to him, who then quickly spun around and shot the first walker in the head.

“ _Run, go Beth go! Pry open a window an’ get your shit!_ ” Daryl shouted pushing her as she ran back into the kitchen, the walkers hot on their tail.

_“I’m not gonna leave you!_ ” She called back, managing to grab her pack from the table and turning to see Daryl loading his bow and shooting another two walkers down.

_“GO! Beth!”_ He said pushing her back into the far rooms as he took down walker after walker.

The last thing Beth saw was Daryl being swarmed by walkers as she reached one of the windows. Slinging her pack on she gripped its frame, grunting as it stuck. Finally after another few seconds of wrestling with the stubborn window she managed to get it open and crawled through, wincing slightly as she twisted her already injured ankle the wrong way before falling into the overgrown garden bed below.

With Daryl’s words ringing in her ears she prepared to run to the nearby woods that were a couple hundred feet away, however a distant glow away to her left caught her eye and made her stop dead in her tracks.

It had been a while since she’d seen them but the glow of headlights was unmistakable in the midst of complete darkness.

Suddenly it all made sense. The cleanliness of the house, the reason it was so packed full of food and medical supplies, the walkers. It was all a trap. For what she didn’t know, but she would be damned if she let anything happen to her or Daryl.

But the only problem was Beth had no idea what to do. Although she’d been training with Daryl she was still nowhere near confident or efficient enough to take on a herd of walkers, especially whilst she was injured. No, she needed to come up with another plan to help him and remain unseen by whoever was in the car.

Staying low she crept round to where she thought Daryl might be. She needed to work out where exactly in the house he was before she did anything else. Although a small part of her was scared he’d been taken down by the walkers she pushed that fear down.

If anyone was going to survive this situation it would be Daryl. 

Making sure she stayed out of view she went up to the window of one of the back rooms. Sighing in relief at the sight of Daryl inside, his figure illuminated slightly by the last few candles sill flickering and she said a silent pray thanking whoever was watching over him that he was still alright. But despite being alive she could see he was struggling from the way he was pressed up against the door, trying to keep out the walkers that were leaning on the other side and attempting to get to him.

It became obvious when she saw the deadbolt on the window she was looking through why he hadn’t tried to make a run for it like she had. By the time he managed to get it open he’d be dead.

Thinking quickly she looked around for something to break the window with, her eyes landing on a decent sized rock.

Griping it she smashed the window with everything she had. Knocking out the other pieces of glass that didn’t immediately fall out before sticking her head through the open gap.

_“What are ya doing girl I told yer to run!”_ Daryl grunted.

_“And I told you I’m not leaving you!”_ Beth growled back.

Suddenly there was a large bang from the other side of the door and Beth watched in horror as it was pushed open further, now allowing for one of the walkers entire hand to come through.

_“Look we can argue bout this after we’re safe but for now you need ta shut up and listen! Theres a car out there on the road, I saw it’s lights and I’m guessing they’ve set this up as a trap. We need to get out of here fore’ the walkers kill us or they get sick and tired and come looking for us.”_

Daryl just hissed as he slammed back on the door, nodding between panted breaths. She knew he didn’t have much time left, after running all of last night and most of this morning to escape the first herd neither of them had had any rest.

_“Try and hold them for as long as you can I’m gonna try and draw some of them away, when you can run to the window and get out I’ll meet you back here.”_ She whispered pulling herself away and not waiting for his answer, they needed to move and they needed to move now.

Once again keeping low Beth crept around to the front of the house, making sure she stayed out of sight in case anyone was watching.

As she neared the porch the bushes started to thin out meaning Beth had to sink to her knees and crawl along at an agonisingly slow pace. Just as she was nearing the front of the porch her head bashed against something metal. Looking up she saw the start of the makeshift alarms Daryl had set up. 

Suddenly an idea sprung into her head and she got up gripping the string and shaking it making the odd bits of metal and cans rattle together creating an ungodly sound, however one she knew the walkers would hear. Almost asif they heard her thoughts the growls from inside the house got louder as the walkers began to stumble out the door and onto the front porch looking for the source of the noise.

Hoping that it had been enough she turned tail and ran back alongside the house just in time to see Daryl clambering out the window.

There were only a few walkers that had followed him into the room once he’d let go of the door, all of which where now trying to climb through the window after him.

Without a word between them they took off behind the back of the house careful to not make any noise and keeping to the shadows, and most importantly going in the other direction of the car. Both of them still reeling from the event and each of them having forgotten about their almost kiss.

At least for the time being.

* * *

Something that seemed to be becoming a regularity for the two was the amount of exhaustingly gruelling nights they had. 

This night was no exception with them running once again from the threat of walkers through unforgiving bush and Beth pushing herself as much as she could with her damaged ankle and knowing that in no way she was helping it heal any quicker.

By the time they stopped for the night Beth was just about in tears and barely able to put weight on her foot. Daryl was panting and looked as though he would either continue running for eternity or would pass out at any minute.

They’d managed to find an old run down barn off to the side of the road that they’d emerged onto and had agreed that it would do for the night. Daryl had tried to put up a fight of taking the first watch but Beth had quickly shut that down telling him that they both needed sleep, him especially, and that for one night it would be okay if they had no one on watch. Especially as the loft of the barn was still mostly intact meaning the only real threat came from people if they were to climb up in the middle of the night.

Surprisingly he hadn’t put up that much of a fight which was probably an indication of just how tired he was, instead he strung up some basic alarms that they’d had in their packs, both of which they’d miraculously been able to bring from the funeral home. Before settling down on the floor of the loft and almost instantly falling asleep.

Beth wasn’t that far behind him,however the events of that night with the walkers including what had almost happened just before they were interrupted were playing on a continuous loop in her mind making her wonder just what the next day would bring when she would have to face Daryl.

Finally she managed to fall into a restless sleep, her dreams however offering no respite from her worries as images of Daryl leaning in towards her plagued her mind before he was harshly ripped away from her arms by the decaying hands of walkers and she was left ever wondering if she would get to kiss the man she’d fallen so hard for.

The next morning she awoke with a start, her latest dream of Daryl being ripped apart in front of her still fresh on her eyes as her heart beat rapidly in her ears. It didn’t take her long to regain her senses though and her eyes squinted as the sunlight streamed through the open hole in the side of the barn.

Daryl was awake, sitting a few feet away with his back towards her as he cleaned and checked his crossbow.

Yawning she stifled out a morning to her companion, but received only a grunt in reply.

Frowning slightly but choosing to dismiss his blunt attitude as just tiredness she reached for her pack taking a swig of water and taking her time to sift through her things before she brought up the inevitable conversation they needed to have.

As Daryl finally set his crossbow aside she plucked up the courage and cleared her throat.

_“Daryl I—should we talk about what..happened?”_ She asked timidly her eyes downcast, to afraid to look up incase he saw how nervous she was.

_“Why nothin to talk bout.”_ He gruffed back after a moment of silence.

Beth looked up to see he still had his back to her and had now started going through his own pack.

_“I mean about what we- when we almost…”_

_“Almos’ what?”_ He interrupted.

_“You mean wha you thought was almost bout to happen in the kitchen. Well let me make this clear nothin happened girl. Whatever you thought was in your head.”_ He said finally turning to face her but not looking at her just getting to his feet and swinging his pack on before grabbing his crossbow.

_“Are we done here cause we need to keep movin?_ ” He muttered looking out the hole and not even giving her a chance to reply before he walked down the steps.

Beth couldn’t help the tears that welled in her eyes.

How dare he be such a prick and act as if nothing had happened between them! As if it what had almost happened had just been some stupid story she made up in her head!

Angry and hurt Beth wiped away the tears and stood to her feet swinging her own pack on her shoulders.

Fine if he wanted to play this game then she would to.

* * *

Daryl cursed under his breath as once again Beth walked straight on past him down the road. They’d been walking alongside it for the past two days after they’d left the barn. Daryl figuring it would be easier for Bethto walk on relatively flat ground with her ankle and possibly even give them a better shot at finding somewhere more permanent to stay.

However any time he stopped during their walking, except if it was at the end of the day to set up camp Beth just continued straight on. Not stopping for a rest or break despite her being the one that was injured.

It was one of the many tactics of her silent treatment she had been using since that morning they left the barn. And the entire thing was starting to grate on his nerves.

He should have expected something like this. He knew he was being a dick when he brushed off what had almost happened between them at the funeral home. But he knew it was the right thing to do even if it did hurt her. She was better off without him and the quicker she realised that the better.

But he’d only expected her to put up a fight. To shout and scream like she normally did and demand why he was behaving like that. He didn’t expect her to completely ignore him and not even speak to him, only acknowledging his presence when she turned her cold blank stare to him.

And it was driving him crazy.

He wasn’t used to this cold unfriendly Beth Greene. He was used to the happy go lucky girl _,_ who always had a smile on her face whenever he returned from hunting or did something to make her smile. He was used to her always pestering him with questions about his life or himself or begging him to teach her how to hunt and defend herself.

He missed that girl and he had no idea what to do about it because he knew the only way to fix it was by addressing the tension between them about their almost kiss. And he couldn’t let that happen because whenever he thought about it all he felt was guilt.

He’d hoped that her silent treatment would only last a day but it was now their third day since leaving the barn and he was becoming throughly pissed off at her behaviour.

The final straw for him came when she had been walking ahead of him and he’d noticed a large tree root sticking out in front of her. But rather than listen to his warning to watch out she chose to ignore him and instead tripped over it sending her sprawling face first into the dirt.

_“Fucks sake Beth!_ ” He hissed running up to the girl who was shakily sitting herself up.

She had a nasty gash on her forehead from where she’d scraped it on the ground and her hands were also quite torn from where she tried to brace herself, but it was her ankle that he was most worried about.

_“Jesus christ girl bloody listen next time I tell ya to watch out.”_ He growled angrily at her stupidity crouching down next to her and reaching for her sprained foot.

_“Don’t touch me!”_ She hissed glaring at him with her ice blue eyes. 

At her look of absolute contempt Daryl finally lost it.

_“Why thought tha’ was what ya bloody wanted! After all thats why ya getting so pissy at me jus’ cause of some dumb kiss that almost happened isn’t it?.”_ He snarled standing up and turning his own glare on her, the last few days frustration bubbling up inside him.

_“No its not I’m just sick of you being a jack ass!”_ She snapped, getting to her feet and glaring back at him.

_“Yeah well I’m sick of you being a fucking child all the time, grow up Greene! This ain’t fucking high school and I ain’t some fucking teenage twat for you to crush over!”_

_Shit._

He knew it as soon as he saw the hurt flash across her eyes that he’d gone to far.

_“Fuck you.” S_ he murmured quietly before turning around and walking off up the road.

He didn’t try and stop her he knew it would be no use. She'd come back. Eventually. 

_“Fucking hell!_ ” He cursed turning around and kicking the stupid root she’d tripped over. He’d never felt so utterly head fucked and out of his depth before.

_What the hell was this girl doing to him._

* * *

Beth was fuming.

She couldn’t believe what Daryl had said to her. How he’d glared at her as though she had no right to be pissed at him and then had called her a child.

One thing she absolutely hated was being made to feel immature and naive like a little girl. Her entire time at the prison Maggie and her father and just about everyone else had treated her as such and it had driven her crazy.

That was one of the things she had loved about Daryl. That he didn’t treat her like that. He looked at her as someone capable, as someone mature. He asked her opinion, valued her input and he treated her like a..well like a woman.

But clearly he didn’t see her as such.

She hadn’t backed down when she’d decided to give him the silent treatment. A taste of his own medicine she’d though vindictively. It had been worth it to see his internal struggle each time she point blank ignored him.

Beth had half a mind to continue doing such things and just keep on walking and make him follow but she knew that it would only make things worse.

She was just about to turn around when a small flash of colour caught her eye from within the overgrown bush about fifty feet up ahead.

Squinting and walking closer Beth tried to make out what it was. When she was no less than a few feet away she was finally able to see that it was the faded paint of a blue letter box with rusted numbers on it, hidden by the entanglement of scrub and vines.

Frowning Beth looked around wondering what on earth a letter box was doing out in the middle of the bush.

However as she looked to the left of her just next to the letter box she started noticing the irregularities of the trees and bushes around her. Which although were still dense like the rest of the woods, thinned out slightly in places which she realised was because it was the remnants of a driveway.

Eyes wide Beth looked into the bush. From the road it would be almost indistinguishable unless you really looked and paid attention to the trees. The tracks were long gone, covered with leaf litter and dirt blown from the wind and even some small bushes had started to grow on the track from it having not been used in ages. But it was still distinguishable as a drive way.

Not knowing if she should or not but her curiosity peaked Beth decided to follow the track to see how far it went.

She’d only been walking along it for abut ten minutes when suddenly the trees thinned out again to reveal a small clearing and sitting smack bang in the middle of it was a small two story house. 

Beth just stood there dumbfounded. Her mouth open in slight shock at the house being only a ten minute walk from the road but completely concealed.

Wanting to go and explore it but knowing she needed Daryl with her to help she quickly turned around and made her way back to the angrily pacing hunter who was still in the same place she’d left him beside the road.

She had just opened her mouth to tell him what she’d stumbled across when his pissed off face turned towards her.

_“What’s a matter Beth you aint had enough! Maybe you like me shoutin at ya all the time cause ya always fucking come back!”_

_“What the hell is your problem!”_ She yelled, annoyed that he was still pissed off when he’d been the jerk.

_“You are!”_

His words should have hurt but Beth knew better. She knew that he was taking his anger out on her because he was confused about what had happened and no doubt unsure what to do except get angry at the world.

Closing her eyes and taking a breath she calmed herself knowing she had to be forceful. To not let him speak until she was finished.

Opening her eyes she took a step toward him, her eyes boring into his as she spoke.

_“No you know what your fucking problem is Dixon! You can't stand the fact that maybe someone actually likes you. Yeah I always come back because it might be a surprise to you but I actually care about you and like you and yeah I have feelings for you. God knows why because half the time you treat me like shit but there I said it I do like you.”_ She yelled making sure she never dropped his gaze as she finally voiced her feelings.

Taking another breath and another step she continued.

_“I like the way you treat me not like just some defenceless kid, I like how brave you are and how sure of yourself you are. I like how knowledgable you are and how secretly you do care for those you love and you’d do anything for them. But most importantly I like the way you make me feel. And I know you like me to._ ” Beth finished quietly, watching to see his reaction.

_“You don’t know anything Greene.”_

But she noticed that this time his words weren’t angry. He looked almost scared as if he didn’t know what she was going to do.

_“I thought we’d established this in our last fight. I ain’t just some dumb bitch. Yeah maybe I don’t know everything, but I do know that I’m right about how you feel about me. I see the way you look at me. I see the way you try not to touch me. I know that I’m the reason your changing your views about people and I know I didn’t imagine it when you almost kissed me the other night.”_

He flinched slightly at her last admission but he didn’t deny it like before. Instead he just looked away.

_“I’m not good for you Beth.”_

_“Yes you are! Cant you see that? After everything I just told you. Don’t you see that I like you, that I care about you. Your a good person daryl and I.. I want you.”_

At her words Daryls entire body froze and his mouth went dry.

_I want you._

Wondering if he’d heard right he turned back to look at the woman who had been driving him crazy since they’d been on the road together. Her blonde hair in its usual ponytail but messy and frizzed around her face that was flushed from arguing. Her blue eyes that seemed to forever stare into his, wide and deep like the ocean and full of emotion.

And all of a sudden Daryl couldn’t hold back any longer. He stepped forward, bringing his lips roughly down to hers, their mouths crashing together. She must have been shocked by his action at first as she just stood there for a moment, and Daryl was sure she was about to push him off but then after what felt like eternity she started kissing him back and Daryl swore his heart actually skipped a beat.

Encouraged by her lips against his he brought his arms around her small frame, one coming to encircle her waist and pull her closer to him. The other coming to the back fo her neck and fisting in her hair as he held her close.

_Christ was she always so small?_ He thought as he held her slim frame against his own large one.

Her own arms wrapped around his neck as if she was holding onto him for dear life. Her small hands splaying across his shoulders and running through his hair in a way that sent shivers down his spine.

Her lips were soft, softer than he’d ever imagined and he knew that he hadn’t tasted anything as sweet and pure as her. But he was also surprised with the force she had behind her. It was by no means a slow kiss, it was rough and wild with teeth clashing and each of them frantically gripping the other as though they’d been waiting for this moment all their lives. Which Daryl admitted he probably had, at least since Beth Green had walked into his life.

They broke apart when both of them were finally out of breath and needing to come up for air. Beth’s arms still around his neck as he leaned his forehead against hers, their breathes coming in short pants.

He’d never been one for kissing before. Never enjoyed kissing the women he had sex with, always finding it to intimate and unnecessary. However this had probably been the most hottest thing he’d ever done and it had just been kissing.

But he couldn’t help but feel a flood of guilt as he looked down at her, all flushed checks, wide eyes and swollen lips.

_God what was wrong with him._

Slowly he pulled away from her, stepping out of her embrace and watching as confusion over came her. 

_“Daryl whats wrong?”_ She asked breathily.

_“I already told ya I’m not good for you. We can’t do that—I can’t.”_ He said running a hand over his face.

_“And I already told you. You're one of the goodest people I know despite what you think.”_

_“Dont you.. don’t you like me is that it?”_ She said stepping closer to him and nervously biting her lip.

_“Are you kidding of course I do.”_ He breathed looking down at her in awe. She was beautiful and far beyond anything he deserved and that was the issue.

_“Then whats the problem?”_ She asked looking up at him under her lashes.

_“For a starters I’m basically twice yer age. I don’t deserve someone like you.”_

_“Daryl when will you get this through your head. I. Don’t. Care. All of that stuff doesn’t matter, the only thing that does is what I feel for you and what you feel for me.”_

_“If your dad were here—”_

_“Well he’s not and even if he was I know he’d approve of you. Please don’t push me away, not now.”_

_“I just don wanna hurt you.”_

_“You won’t, the only way you could do that is by doing what your doing now. Pushing me away.”_ She whispered bringing her hand to cup his check and make him look at her. 

Daryl sighed she definitely was no child that was for sure. He suspected she was probably even more mature than he was, at the least definitely wiser. 

_“Look I’m not asking for anything, I don’t want to force it. But I know what I want and thats to be with you…is that what you want?”_

Reluctantly Daryl nodded, hating himself for giving in but knowing that he was already beyond gone and if he was honest he didn't have it in him to fight it any longer.

_“Good, then nothing else matters.”_

He watched as Beth stepped towards him again rapping her hands back around him. Waiting for him to make the first move. Knowing that he was already going to hell as it was he slowly dipped his head, lowering his mouth back to hers. It was slower then before, less rushed but just as enticing.

However it was soon broken by Beth pulling away.

_“Thought you wanted me.”_ He smirked playfully, trying to ease some of the seriousness between them. 

Beth blushed slightly and he realised what he’d just said and how it must have sounded.

_“Beth I—_

_“It’s okay, I know what you meant and I do but I just remembered.”_

_“Remembered what?”_ He asked confused at what she was going on about.

_“I found a house.”_


End file.
